There are good reasons for preventing firearm tracing data from becoming public information. Doing so protects the lives of law enforcement officers and also the integrity of undercover operations that may have been in place for weeks or even months. Restricting access also prevents the misuse of the data to bring nuisance lawsuits, as New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg did when he launched his own private sting operation against out-of-state firearms retailers and interfered with up to 18 federal investigations for which he was chastised in a letter from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
For these reasons and others, legislation called the Tiahrt Amendment rightly protects gun ownership information from being released to the public, while at the same time allowing law enforcement to access and share the data for their investigations.
Introduced by Congressman Todd Tiahrt (R-KS) in 2003, the legislation has been renewed every year since then and has the support of the Fraternal Order of Police. Even New York's police commissioner, Ray Kelly, opposed the public release of such sensitive information, saying in a 2002 letter to Attorney General John Ashcroft, "The release of trace information . . . seriously jeopardizes not only . . . investigations, but also the lives of law enforcement officers, informants, witnesses, and others."
(When discussing tracing, it's important to note that a traced firearm is not an indicator of wrongdoing on the part of either the retailer who sold the firearm or the individual who legally purchased the gun, even though some inaccurately leap to that conclusion, as did Mr. Bloomberg in testimony before Congress.)
Despite all these reasons, New York's anti-gun senator Charles Schumer recently called for the repeal of the Tiahrt Amendment so that trace data can be made public.
At the same time, Mr. Schumer called on the Obama Administration to extend the time period for storing an individual's firearm purchasing records. Currently, such records of law-abiding gun owners must be destroyed within 24 hours, but Mr. Schumer would like the purchasing records of gun owners to be retained for up to 90 days. With each gun owner having to pass a federal background check and retailers required to keep records signed by the purchaser for up to 20 years, law enforcement already has all the information it needs to trace firearms sales to the first retail purchaser, so there is no need for holding onto these records longer than current law provides.
What the 90-day holding period does do is create a federal registry of firearms purchasers, something Congress has clearly forbidden.
*** STILL A BIG PROBLEM FOR ALL NYS LICENSEES ***
Nassau County Local Law #5 & #9
05/2009 UPDATE!
Donate to the 'Chwick v. Mulvey' Appeal of
Nassau County County's Local Law #5 via PayPal at: http://www.incnf.org/cvm.htm
The 'disguised' handgun ban law.
Every little bit helps.
PRESS RELEASE-FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
UPDATE: Lawsuit Derails Nassau Handgun Ban
Mineola, NY - May, 2009 - The Nassau County local law banning the possession of handguns mislabeled "deceptively colored" stands, as a ruling against the petitioners was handed down on 12/18/2008 by Judge Davis. Needless to say, Judge Davis lost his bid for the position and has left the bench.
Nassau's Local Law #5, criminalizes the possession and sale of "deceptively colored handguns" as a supposed danger to law enforcement. The law bans all handguns except for those that are "black, grey, silver, steel, nickel or army green." It does not grandfather currently owned guns and mandates that gun owners surrender all banned guns for destruction without any compensation, and with no opportunity to sell them outside the county.
Because of the petitioner's Article 78, Nassau County passed Local Law #9, which modified Local Law #5 by adding the provisions for gold, brown and 'blued' guns, hence eliminating one petitioner and one of a petitioner's handgun from the suit. The ruling in December '08, further, but vaguely, protected camo colored guns by arguing, with very circular logic, that the law did not fully apply to them.
The petitioners filed a Notice of Appeal on February 10, 2009, with the intent and hope of overturning this wrongful ruling. The appeal, seeks to reverse the a ruling, because Nassau's local Law #5 is "preempted" by New York State's extensive gun control laws, and that the ruling improperly supported the respondent's case with non-preemptive cites.
The local law affects not only Nassau County pistol licensees, but all New York gun owners who either pass through or visit Nassau County. Anybody found with a banned handgun is subject to arrest and prosecution. The law is particularly hazardous to the many shooters who come into, or pass through, Nassau to participate in shooting events and have no way of knowing about this law. The law imposes a penalty of one year in jail and a $1000 fine.
Recognizing the importance of appealing this onerous ruling, and the law itself, the Shooters' Committee On Political Education (SCOPE), of Tonawanda, NY, and the Sportsmen's Association for Firearms Education (SAFE), of Commack, NY, are garnering their members' support for the appeal. SCOPE, SAFE, and the petitioners are seeking donations to help fight this ridiculous and dangerous local law, which holds dire implications for New York's gun owners, if permitted to stand. A victory in this case may well be the springboard for challenging other New York gun control laws.
Please donate whatever you can to either SCOPE or SAFE. Send donations to:
SCOPE, Inc.
PO Box 12711
Rochester, NY 14612.
Please make checks payable to SCOPE, Inc.
or to
SAFE, Inc.
PO Box 343
Commack, NY 11725.
Please make checks payable to SAFE, Inc.
Please, note in the memo area of your check "Legal Defense Fund-Chwick v. Mulvey."
Or via PayPal at: http://www.incnf.org/cvm.htm
Every little bit helps.
All donations are greatly appreciated.
The petitioners continue to express their gratitude to SCOPE, the Freeport R&R Association Junior Club, and to those individuals that have donated, and now to SAFE, whose additional support will help us succeed in this appeal.
To read the case papers (Petition, Response, & Reply), go the SCOPE NY's website ( http://www.SCOPENY.org ):
* Nassau Local Law
* Article 78 Petition
* NC's Response
* Petitioner's Reply
For more information, contact:
Nassau County News Flash
Alan Chwick, Editor
516-903-1959
Editor@iNCNF.org
Posted by: Alan Chwick,Editor | May 06, 2009 at 03:08 PM