Does anyone know? Did the NRA back the Tiahrt Amendment?
Federal law excludes public from data on illegal weapons
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Federal law excludes public from data on illegal weapons
By SETH HARKNESS, Portland Press Herald Writer
Copyright © 2006 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
For the better part of a year, Boston police have been saying that more and more guns at crime scenes throughout the city have been traced back to Maine and other northern New England states.
What the federal agency in charge of tracing these guns hasn't revealed - and won't if asked - is statistics on how many illegal firearms are coming into the city from Maine. Since 2003, federal law has prohibited the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms from sharing this data with the public, though police departments can obtain the numbers.
Though ATF used to routinely publish trace data on crime guns, the agency was barred from doing so in 2003 by an amendment to an appropriations bill known as the Tiahrt Amendment, after U.S. Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan., its sponsor. The ban includes requests through the Freedom of Information Act and court subpoenas.
A spokesman for the National Rifle Association said the law serves to protect police, who may not be able to perform undercover operations without it, but critics maintain it does just the opposite. Several called the amendment a blatant example of Congress bowing to the interests of the gun lobby at the expense of public safety. In order to protect gun dealers, they say, the legislators have created laws that work in favor of criminals.
"In essence, what they're doing is handcuffing police," said Joe Vince, a retired chief of crime-gun analysis with ATF who teaches criminal justice in Maryland and is a consultant to police departments around the country.
Without access to the trace numbers, it becomes difficult to understand the patterns of illegal gun trafficking or even talk about the problem, said Cathie Whittenburg, executive director of Maine Citizens Against Handgun Violence.
"The gun lobby has been very successful at shutting down access to data," she said. "It's very hard to discuss this issue when you don't have data to show cause and effect."
National Rifle Association spokesman Andrew Arulanandam said his organization supports the provision because it prevents the release of information that could damage the secrecy of undercover investigations.
"The public has no need for that information," he said.
The NRA spokesman said the Fraternal Order of Police, the world's largest organization of police officers, sides with the NRA.
The Maine Chiefs of Police, however, has come out against it.
A bill to extend the Tiahrt amendment for another year is expected to come before the Senate later this summer. Another bill headed to the Senate (H.R. 5005) would make the amendment permanent and prohibit police departments as well as the ATF from sharing gun-trace data.
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Federal law excludes public from data on illegal weapons
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/n...unsidebar.shtml
Federal law excludes public from data on illegal weapons
By SETH HARKNESS, Portland Press Herald Writer
Copyright © 2006 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
For the better part of a year, Boston police have been saying that more and more guns at crime scenes throughout the city have been traced back to Maine and other northern New England states.
What the federal agency in charge of tracing these guns hasn't revealed - and won't if asked - is statistics on how many illegal firearms are coming into the city from Maine. Since 2003, federal law has prohibited the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms from sharing this data with the public, though police departments can obtain the numbers.
Though ATF used to routinely publish trace data on crime guns, the agency was barred from doing so in 2003 by an amendment to an appropriations bill known as the Tiahrt Amendment, after U.S. Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan., its sponsor. The ban includes requests through the Freedom of Information Act and court subpoenas.
A spokesman for the National Rifle Association said the law serves to protect police, who may not be able to perform undercover operations without it, but critics maintain it does just the opposite. Several called the amendment a blatant example of Congress bowing to the interests of the gun lobby at the expense of public safety. In order to protect gun dealers, they say, the legislators have created laws that work in favor of criminals.
"In essence, what they're doing is handcuffing police," said Joe Vince, a retired chief of crime-gun analysis with ATF who teaches criminal justice in Maryland and is a consultant to police departments around the country.
Without access to the trace numbers, it becomes difficult to understand the patterns of illegal gun trafficking or even talk about the problem, said Cathie Whittenburg, executive director of Maine Citizens Against Handgun Violence.
"The gun lobby has been very successful at shutting down access to data," she said. "It's very hard to discuss this issue when you don't have data to show cause and effect."
National Rifle Association spokesman Andrew Arulanandam said his organization supports the provision because it prevents the release of information that could damage the secrecy of undercover investigations.
"The public has no need for that information," he said.
The NRA spokesman said the Fraternal Order of Police, the world's largest organization of police officers, sides with the NRA.
The Maine Chiefs of Police, however, has come out against it.
A bill to extend the Tiahrt amendment for another year is expected to come before the Senate later this summer. Another bill headed to the Senate (H.R. 5005) would make the amendment permanent and prohibit police departments as well as the ATF from sharing gun-trace data.
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