Gun Control Opponents Strike Back

After the second phase of the Brady Bill went into effect Nov.

30, gun rights organizations began moving against what they consid-

er illegal actions of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other

authorities.

The Nov. 30 change abolished the five-day waiting period

required to purchase a handgun substituting a so-called instant

check system while extending the provisions of the act to rifles

and shotguns.

Under the new terms, a dealer should be able to verify a

customer's eligibility to buy a gun instantly by simply making a

phone call.

This brief contact enables Federal authorities to build and

maintain a permanent registry of gun purchasers including personal

information needed to approve the purchase.

The National Rifle Association has sued charging that under FBI

regulations the bureau will hold this information for six months.

NRA contends this violates Federal law which says no Federal de-

partment or agency may require information gained by this procedure

to be recorded by or transferred to any facility controlled by the

Federal government.

Another gun rights group, Gun Owners of America, plans to chal-

lenge the entire background check system, not just illegal

registration of gun owners. To help make the case, Larry Pratt,

executive director of GOA, is seeking accounts from citizens of

abuses and deceptive tactics. He stressed he is not seeking ac-

counts of delays although there have been excessive delays. Some-

times, he said, buyers have left the store in disgust without

making a purchase because of delay in clearance.

Sometimes, Pratt said, "gun dealers have even been stuck with

special orders that they have purchased, but couldn't transfer when

endless delays caused the gun buyers to give up." A cynic, he

said, might even suspect the delays are deliberate.

But, he said, he is seeking reports of actual abuse. He said he

has already received some including:

FBI officials telling gun dealers a buyer may only buy one

handgun a month in a state which does not have a one-gun-a-month

law.

State officials admitting they use the background checks to

deny people with unpaid traffic fines.

State officials requesting copies of the 4473 forms with no

statutory authority to do so.

FBI officials asking for gun ser-ial numbers or Social Security

numbers before approving purchases.

Pratt said such incidents will help GOA fight the law in the

courts. and in Congress where Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) plans to

introduce a bill repealing the Brady Law. Persons are asked to

report abuses to:

Gun Owners of America

Attn: Brady abuses

8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102

Springfield, VA 22151

goamail@gunowners.org

Another organization, the Second Amendment Foundation, has

notified the US Conference of Mayors that it plans to sponsor a

"damage action" against the cities of Chicago and New Orleans in

response to the "frivolous suits" those cities have filed against

firearms manufacturers, their trade associations and federally

licensed firearms dealers.

The foundation accuses the cities of conspiracy to violate civil

rights, abuse of process and undue burden on interstate commerce.

SAF told the mayors that 12 law professors have agreed to assist

without compensation and any city following the example of Chicago

and New Orleans will be added to the suit.

Alan Gottlieb, SAF director, said, "Whatever problems the cities

may have with the criminal and negligent misuse of firearms, their

suits against the gun manufacturers make as much sense as suing the

National Weather Bureau for the cost of storm damages,"

SAF noted even newspapers backing gun laws have criticized the

lawsuits suggesting they are inspired by suits against tobacco

firms. "Guns and tobacco are not analogous," said Joseph Tartar,

president of SAF. "Firearms have a significant beneficial use in

our society beyond recreation since independent research shows they

are used over two million times a year to prevent or terminate

predatory criminal assaults." The suits, he said, are an attempt to

deny people the means to defend themselves "while looting a legal

industry."