Congress rigs the game: NRA 1, Police 0
Editorial: Local cops lose on gun data issue
Star Tribune, July 03, 2007
Minneapolis, St. Paul police need Congress's help to trace guns
This year began with optimism in law-enforcement circles that the current crime surge could be curbed by opening the flow of information between federal agencies and local cops about the widespread traffic in illegal guns.
With Democrats controlling both houses of Congress, it seemed finally possible that the information-sharing barriers -- erected by allies of the National Rifle Association to protect weapons dealers -- would come down. The nation's mayors, including R.T. Rybak of Minneapolis and Chris Coleman of St. Paul, joined a bipartisan effort led by New York's Michael Bloomberg to make it clear that local police investigations are greatly hampered by Congress-imposed restrictions on tracing guns used in crimes. Nearly 200 mayors, along with national associations of law-enforcement officers, joined the effort.
Progress seemed even more likely after the 33 killings at Virginia Tech in April, when it was discovered that a lack of free-flowing information among federal, state and local officials had led to the sale of semiautomatic weapons to a clearly disqualified buyer.
But never underestimate the power of the gun lobby -- and its campaign contributions. Last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted 19-10 against repealing the so-called Tiahrt Amendment, the series of federal provisions, first passed in 2003, that deny police and prosecutors access to information about guns used in local crimes. Named after Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan., the provisions also prevent local authorities from sharing information about the origin of crime guns and prohibit the publishing of national data about how illegal guns move from state to state.
(The article is here. Thanks to Gun Guys for the tip.)
Star Tribune, July 03, 2007
Minneapolis, St. Paul police need Congress's help to trace guns
This year began with optimism in law-enforcement circles that the current crime surge could be curbed by opening the flow of information between federal agencies and local cops about the widespread traffic in illegal guns.
With Democrats controlling both houses of Congress, it seemed finally possible that the information-sharing barriers -- erected by allies of the National Rifle Association to protect weapons dealers -- would come down. The nation's mayors, including R.T. Rybak of Minneapolis and Chris Coleman of St. Paul, joined a bipartisan effort led by New York's Michael Bloomberg to make it clear that local police investigations are greatly hampered by Congress-imposed restrictions on tracing guns used in crimes. Nearly 200 mayors, along with national associations of law-enforcement officers, joined the effort.
Progress seemed even more likely after the 33 killings at Virginia Tech in April, when it was discovered that a lack of free-flowing information among federal, state and local officials had led to the sale of semiautomatic weapons to a clearly disqualified buyer.
But never underestimate the power of the gun lobby -- and its campaign contributions. Last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted 19-10 against repealing the so-called Tiahrt Amendment, the series of federal provisions, first passed in 2003, that deny police and prosecutors access to information about guns used in local crimes. Named after Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan., the provisions also prevent local authorities from sharing information about the origin of crime guns and prohibit the publishing of national data about how illegal guns move from state to state.
(The article is here. Thanks to Gun Guys for the tip.)
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