Alphecca: NY Times on Gun Sales Data

June 19, 2006

NY Times on Gun Sales Data

They're gearing up for the UN conference, too. From today's editorial:

The criminalizing of peace officers for swapping federal data beyond their narrow jurisdictions is only one of the provisions in a pair of treacherous bills quietly on the move, in another sweeping triumph for the gun lobby. The bills would gut what is left of initiative in the hamstrung bureau that's supposed to control firearms. They would roll back laws for stopping illicit gun traffickers, water down criminal definitions and penalties, and snuff out the current notification to concerned police officials about the virtual fire sales of multiple guns to single buyers by dealers arming the underworld.

The gun lobby will do almost anything to deny basic information about the gun mayhem that Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York and 60 other mayors are properly pursuing through the courts. The bills answer the question of how craven Congress can get in catering to its demands.

Actually, NYC Mayor Michael Blowhard and his cronies, lawyers, etc., are NOT properly pursuing anything. They are breaking laws in order to try to catch gun dealers "in the act" of something or other. They are going on fishing expeditions by using large swaths of data they have no right to.

Anytime a law enforcement agency wants to inquire about a specific sale, they can. If a gun dealer is operating improperly, the ATF can close them. These bills don't hinder either scenario. They just make it tougher for cities like NY to launch lawsuits against firearm dealers who have done nothing wrong.

Posted by Jeff Soyer at June 19, 2006 08:19 AM

Comments

If "they" were to admit to being aware of existing gun laws and trace proceedures they would have to recognize their inability to control crime. All they can manage with their limited abilities is to affix blame on someone or something else. What else is new? Jack

Posted by: Jack Lorenz at June 19, 2006 09:17 AM

That editor has no compunctions about getting down and chapping his lips on Bloomberg's butt, does he?

Posted by: BobG at June 19, 2006 09:43 AM

Hmmmph. Seems to me we've got another example of double standards at America's "paper of record."

I seem to recall that the New York Times thought that the administrative "firewall" established by the Clinton Administration to prevent law enforcement agencies from sharing information on terrorism investigations and terrorist suspects was a good thing.

Now, however, the Times has finally found a firewall it doesn't like...primarily because it protects the privacy and rights of private - and overwhelmingly law-abiding - citizens from harassment by bureaucrats.

Well, I suppose that's typical of them...

Posted by: Wes S. at June 19, 2006 04:03 PM

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June 19, 2006

NY Times on Gun Sales Data

By Golly, you're reading an archived post. Click Here to head to the main page and read current stuff...

Check it out:

My group sci-fi blog novel:

Colony: Alchibah