Subject: Major bogus in your article today
Date: Tue, 03 Feb 2004 20:38:12 -0500
From: Terry Wintroub 
To: Albert Eisele 
CC: Sam Dealey

Sam Dealey's February 3, 2004, piece "Gun control reappears as political
issue" [http://www.thehill.com/news/020304/guns.aspx] was tolerable,
even though it gave way too much ink to the gun controllers relative to
the gun rights folks.

However, his last paragraph was a testimonial to bad journalism.

        Meantime, the recently enacted omnibus appropriations bill rolls
        back the government's timetable in tracking illegal guns. Rep.
        Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.) sponsored in the provision in the House. It
        requires the FBI to destroy gun-buyer records 24 hours after a
        weapon is sold. The Brady law had required the FBI to retain
        such records for up to 90 days.

1. Tiahrt's amendment has nothing to do with tracking guns, legal or
illegal. It applies to the FBI's records of background checks on
APPROVED purchases. If you buy a gun from a licensed dealer, he (or his
state) asks NICS if you are a prohibited purchaser. If NICS says you are
not a prohibited purchaser, the purchase is okayed and the information
that personally identifies you will be deleted within 24 hours. Well, at
least it will be if the FBI decides to obey the law. The Tiahrt
amendment doesn't apply if NICS says you are a prohibited purchaser or
if NICS can't tell whether or not you are a prohibited purchaser.

2. The Brady law did NOT require retention of these records for up to 90
days. The law did not specify a time frame for destruction and the FBI
took it upon itself to keep these records for 90 days (after initially
planning to keep them for 180 days).

Just in case Sam didn't know, NICS was mandated, designed and funded as
a system for preventing certain people (prohibited by federal law from
buying firearms) from purchasing firearms from federally licensed
firearm dealers. It was not and is not a crime solving system, a
registry of gun buyers, or a system for tracking illegal guns (whatever
those are).

If Sam knew all this and wrote that paragraph anyway, shame on him. He
should toss his word processor and run for office or take up some other
line of work that doesn't imply honesty.

If he didn't know this, find him a fact checker if he's going to write
about stuff he doesn't know about.

If this falsehood isn't Sam's work but rather that of some editor, 
please pass this letter to that editor and then find him some job where
he can do less damage to Sam's and The Hill's credibility.

Terry Wintroub
Lawrenceville, NJ
__


[ Here is the letter as published: ]

Published version, which they edited to omit all my venom, er, passion. :-)
http://www.thehill.com/letters/020504.aspx

Terry
********************************************************************
  Gun rights slighted

 From Terry Wintroub:
Your Feb. 3 article "Gun control reappears as political issue" gave too 
much ink to the gun controllers relative to gun-rights folks.

Contrary to your article, which said the provision sponsored by Rep. 
Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.) requires the FBI to destroy gun-buyer records 24 
hours after a weapon is sold, instead of maintaining them for up to 90 
days as required by the Brady law, Tiahrt's amendment has nothing to do 
with tracking guns, legal or illegal.

It applies to the FBI's records of background checks on approved 
purchases. If you buy a gun from a licensed dealer, he (or his state) 
asks the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) if you 
are a prohibited purchaser. If NICS says you are not, the purchase is 
OK'd and the information that personally identifies you will be deleted 
within 24 hours. The Tiahrt amendment doesn't apply if NICS says you are 
a prohibited purchaser or can't tell whether or not you are.

Also, the Brady law did not require retention of these records for up to 
90 days. The law did not specify a time frame for destruction, and the 
FBI took it upon itself to keep these records for 90 days (after 
initially planning to keep them for 180 days).

NICS was mandated, designed and funded as a system for preventing 
certain people (prohibited by federal law from buying firearms) from 
purchasing firearms from federally licensed firearm dealers. It was not 
and is not a crime solving system, a registry of gun buyers or a system 
for tracking illegal guns [They, not I, omitted the period here.]
Lawrenceville, N.J.