[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 16]
[Senate]
[Pages 22349-22350]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                            A BAD AMENDMENT

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, this week Americans for Gun Safety, the 
Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence United with the Million Mom 
March, and Coalition to Stop Gun Violence have joined to oppose an 
amendment included in the House version of the Commerce, Justice, and 
State Department Appropriations Act that would cripple the ability of 
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives to enforce the 
Nation's gun safety laws against firearms dealers who supply guns to 
criminals.
  The House amendment would prohibit the public release of information 
related to the importation and production of firearms. This would mean 
that the only reliable national information available on how many guns 
are produced in a given year, as well as type, caliber, and 
manufacturer, would no longer be available to the public. Further, the 
amendment would prohibit the public release of information related to 
multiple handgun sales. Under current law, dealers are required to 
notify the BATFE of the sale of two or more handguns to the same person 
within 5 business days. Eliminating the public availability of this 
data would make it more difficult to monitor the activities of reckless 
gun dealers. In addition, the amendment would prohibit the release of 
information related to tracing requests on guns used in crimes.
  The amendment would also prohibit the BATFE from issuing a rule 
requiring Federal firearm licensees to submit

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to a physical inventory. A physical inventory recently revealed that a 
Tacoma, WA gun dealer could not account for the sniper rifle used by 
the Washington, DC area sniper and more than 200 other guns in his 
inventory. The amendment would also require the immediate destruction 
of records of approved firearms purchases and transfers generated by 
the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. The retention of 
these records has assisted law enforcement officials in trying to 
prevent guns from getting into the hands of criminals and identifying 
gun trafficking patterns.
  This amendment was never the subject of hearings, is not supported by 
any major law enforcement organizations, is not supported by Attorney 
General John Ashcroft or Director of the BATFE Bradley Buckles.
  I support the efforts of Americans for Gun Safety, the Brady Campaign 
to Prevent Gun Violence United with the Million Mom March, and 
Coalition to Stop Gun Violence to block this amendment. This provision 
could shield reckless and negligent gun dealers from public scrutiny 
and weaken the BATFE's oversight and enforcement authority.

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