NRA to serve suit on Attorney Gen'l

D

DC

Moderator Emeritus
"WASHINGTON, Nov. 30 (UPI S) _
The National Rifle Association is expected to announce a lawsuit Tuesday
filed against Attorney General Janet Reno. that calls the new National
Instant Check System law "an invasion of privacy rights of law-abiding
citizens." In a statement, the NRA says the suit will be based on the grounds
that the FBI's intention to create and maintain a database of gun purchases is
a violation of federal law. An invasion of privacy and constitutes illegal
national registration of gun owners."

As originally written and told to Congress, Instant Check data on an applicant was supposed to be compared to criminal records instantly and then destroyed. Reno intends to keep such data for a minimum of 6 months...ample time to prepare dossiers on law-abiding citizens.


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"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes"
 
Found this on the internet:

DECEMBER 01, 15:35 EST

http://wire.ap.org/APnews/center_story.html?FRONTID=NATIONAL&STORYID=APIS6PI56600

NRA Sues Over New Background Checks

By LAWRENCE L. KNUTSON
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Accusing the government of illegal snooping, the National Rifle Association sued in federal court
Tuesday to bar the FBI from keeping lists of law-abiding people who buy guns under a newly
revised law.

The Justice Department says FBI records on new gun buyers will be kept only for six months or less. It says the time is needed
to permit audits to assure that all gun purchases are truly legitimate and that weapons
do not end up in the hands of criminals or mentally unstable people.

The NRA lawsuit, which named Attorney General Janet Reno as a defendant, said lists should be kept only of people barred by
law from owning guns because of felonies or other problems uncovered in a new
computerized system of instant background checks.

NRA lawyers said at a news conference that keeping government lists of people found fully eligible to own a firearm represents
an illegal bid to establish a national gun registry of new gun buyers.

``Lists on law abiding people have never been a good idea,'' said NRA executive vice president Wayne LaPierre. ``This is
about privacy and freedom from government snooping into our lives.''

``Now, instead of creating a database of criminals, the federal government is bent on establishing a list of lawful citizens,'' said
James J. Baker, executive director of the NRA's Legislative Institute. He joined
LaPierre at a news conference to announce filing of the law suit with the U.S. District Court here.

The new FBI instant-check system, which governs the purchase of handguns, shotguns and rifles, took effect on Monday. The
system it replaced applied to handguns only, was conducted by local and state law
enforcement authorities, and involved a five-day waiting period.

The NRA suit contends that the Brady Act, the law that requires a background check before a gun can be legitimately sold,
forbids establishing a registry of gun buyers and directs the justice Department to ``destroy
all records.''

Justice Department officials said there is no intent to create a permanent gun registry.

``We are confident that our policy of retaining records of approved purchases for a very limited period is consistent with federal
law,'' said department spokesman Gregory King. ``This process will allow us to protect
the system's security and the gun owners' privacy.''

King said a formal response to the suit will be filed next week.

Justice Department officials, speaking on grounds of anonymity, said the FBI had originally intended to keep all
computer-search records for 18 months to permit surveys to assure that guns purchased legally did not
stray into illegal channels.

But they said that after objections by some members of Congress, a compromise six-month period was agreed to.

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-Essayons
 
yeah right! they'll keep them as long as they want to. they may tell us they destroyed them and as bad as i would like to beleive them i don't. it's like the fdic thing in another thread, they just want to keep track of what everyone has and is doing!! isn't it nice to know that the government cares about you so much!

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fiat justitia
 
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