SHUTTING DOWN GUN SALES
A bureaucratic bungle recently shut down gun sales across the United States.
The problem started with a small
change in Form
4473, the
criminal background check record that must be submitted to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) jointly by federally licensed dealers
and customers, to flag the immigration status of the buyer.
The change was made to better determine whether a non-citizen
who wished to purchase a firearm is prohibited from doing so. Anyone in the U.S. illegally would be rejected.
You can’t complete a gun transaction
without submitting the form and getting an “instant” background check on the customer.
The difference between the old and new Form 4473 was that purchasers used to write in their race but now
check one of six boxes
labeled with various ethnic and racial designations. Also, the new form has a place to indicate if the sale is
made at a gun show, although dealers had to make handwritten notations on the old forms.
Normally when new BATF forms are issued, an advance letter
is sent to Federal Firearms Licensees (FFLs)
notifying them of the new forms forthcoming, and then all dealers get 50 copies and an order blank for additional
copies.
With this change, the letter was sent out as usual last October,
warning that a new Form 4473 would be required on February 19, 2002, a self-imposed deadline set by the agency.
But BATF’s private
contractor couldn’t
complete the print job so the forms were never sent out. The old forms were printed by the Government Printing Office.
The day the change took place late
last month, nobody had the new forms and the BATF
and other official law enforcement agencies refused to do instant background checks on the old form.
The old forms became useless.
The result? The perfect gun ban.
A bureaucratic glitch did what anti-groups
could not.
It brought gun sales to a near-total halt all over the nation. Thousands of transactions worth millions of dollars
may have been stopped.
Complaints inundated the BATF. They agreed to fax the new forms
to dealers.
In the middle of the first day of
the glitch, BATF
spokesman DAVE McCOMBS said, “I’ve got everyone I have working for me and we’ve still got 100 or so dealers waiting
for the new form.”
By the end of the day, his people
had faxed more than 200 forms.
Within another day, letters of permission to make photocopies
of the forms went
out -- only
originals are normally allowed for these records.
The forms were soon posted on the
World Wide Web and could be downloaded at www.atf.treas.gov.
The problem was dealt with and sales
returned to near-normal within a week.
The disturbing question remains:
Why didn’t
BATF see the glitch coming? How hard is it to identify a printing
deadline that won’t be met?
Gun rights supporters are contacting
Congress to get answers.
CITY OF ATLANTA ANTI-GUN LAWSUIT THROWN OUT
The Georgia Court of Appeals has
dismissed
a lawsuit
by the city of Atlanta against gun manufacturers and trade associations, saying that only states have the right to regulate firearms.
The appeals court ruling overturned a lower court decision
that allowed the city to sue 14 gun makers and three trade associations, alleging they are negligent in designing, distributing and promoting firearms and fail to
warn of their danger.
Writing for a unanimous court, Judge
GARY B. ANDREWS found not only that the regulation of firearms is properly an issue of statewide concern, but also
that Atlanta’s case had not “pointed to any instance of unlawful conduct by the gun manufacturers.”
The appeals court decision was very
specific on that point, saying Atlanta’s suit sought “to punish conduct which the State, through its regulations and statutory scheme,
expressly allows and licenses.”
LAWRENCE G. KEANE, vice president
and general counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a major firearms industry trade association, said,
“Every appellate
court to decide a municipal suit against the firearms industry has ruled in our favor. We urge those mayors that have sued our industry to redirect their priorities and to emphasize
cooperation with our industry rather than confrontation.”
Joining Atlanta in having their cases
against the firearms industry dismissed are: Chicago, Philadelphia, Miami, New Orleans, Cincinnati, Gary (Indiana),
Bridgeport (Connecticut), Camden County (New Jersey) and the State of New York.
AOL EMPLOYEE GUN BAN UPHELD IN COURT
CASE
A 2nd District Court judge has ruled
America Online was within its rights when
it fired three employees for violating a ban on guns in the company’s leased parking lot.
At question was whether the leased
parking lot was a public place or not. The ruling in effect extended the workplace to the 350 stalls AOL leases
at its Ogden, Utah, call center.
Judge ROGER DUTSON said in delivering his decision
that places of employment are known to be volatile places.
DUTSON said, “I don’t think a worker should
have to face the prospect of getting up to go to work in the morning wondering if a co-worker he’s had some friction
with is armed.”
The three former AOL employees, LUKE
HANSEN, PAUL CARLSON, and JASON MELLING were fired for transferring guns between their vehicles, preparing for a round of target shooting after
work. They
sued, claiming violation of the Second Amendment right to bear arms.
DUTSON said the case is the first in Utah to deal with employers’ rights versus
the right to bear arms.
AOL had every right to control employees behavior in the company’s “exclusive,
marked stalls,” he said. AOL exercised reasonable enforcement of their exclusive right to those lots.”
ROB SYKES, lead counsel for the three,
said his clients
will decide soon whether to appeal Judge DUTSON’s ruling.
“We’re leaning
that way,” SYKES.
AOL lawyer GREGORY STEVENS had no
comment.
ANTI-GUN BOOK GETS PROFESSOR INVESTIGATED
MICHAEL BELLESILES, an Emory University history professor, wrote a controversial
book titled Arming
America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture, that claimed guns were not a part of early American
culture.
Critics have accused BELLESILES of faking data to support his stunning claim. BELLESILES claimed to have found evidence that guns were rare in America’s early days, and that because few owned guns,
the Founding
Fathers may not have meant to enshrine individual gun ownership in the Constitution when they passed the Second
Amendment.
This premise was so preposterous
that it immediately attracted professional attention. As the furor increased from many quarters, historians actually out-shouted gun
rights advocates,
they were so angry about the historical inaccuracy and bias they found in the book.
Historians who reviewed the book portrayed BELLESILES as an extremely careless,
sloppy and biased historian. They stopped
short of accusing him of deliberate deception. Their reviews were important enough to appear recently in a
prestigious history periodical, the William and Mary Quarterly.
The problem for historians boiled
down to the fact that other
researchers could not find the data upon which BELLESILES said he based his book.
BELLESILES responded to these critics, but
always skirted the issue of data
he claimed to have used and others couldn’t find.
The administration of Emory, an Atlanta research university, decided, after
months of delay, to launch an investigation of their embattled professor.
This “book war” grew in steps. BELLESILES first said that by examining early
wills in Vermont, he calculated that only 14 percent of households there had guns. But when others read those
same records, they
found that 40 percent were gun owners.
Other problems soon emerged. BELLESILES claimed to have used 19th Century
court records from San Francisco. But critics found that those records had been destroyed in the city’s 1906 earthquake and fire.
BELLESILES responded that he must have confused
San
Francisco with another locale, but he couldn’t recall where.
Then BELLESILES said he suddenly remembered finding
San
Francisco’s records among the archives of another Bay Area collection, nearby Contra Costa Historical
Society. The Society is a low-budget operation of dedicated amateurs.
“I was not hallucinating when I read
the San
Francisco probate files,” BELLESILES wrote on an Emory Web site. He started a fight by adding a jab at the Contra Costa Historical
Society: “Additionally, the staff appeared unaware that they had any probate materials in their collection, though
they actually have a great deal.”
Big mistake.
Stung, the society fired back, noting
that while it does have probate records, none of them is from San Francisco.
Then they dropped the bomb: The society
disputed BELLESILES’ claim to have researched his book
there.
“We cannot confirm that Professor
BELLESILES did substantial research in our
collection. We do not remember him visiting our collection before his recent visit. We have searched our log books
and invoices for the years 1993, 1994, 1995, and 1996 and find no record for research fees or photocopies.”
That was the straw that broke the
camel’s back.
JAMES MELTON, the chairman of BELLESILES’ department, sent the archive an
e-mail apologizing for BELLESILES. Another faculty member sent a letter to Emory’s administration saying the university could
wait no longer. The announcement of an investigation shortly followed.
Emory’s investigation could cost
BELLESILES his tenure, academia’s equivalent
of a lifetime job guarantee. In announcing the probe, Emory Dean ROBERT A. PAUL issued a written statement saying
“questions remain concerning his research.”
The questionable book won last year’s
prestigious Bancroft Prize, the most coveted award in the field of American history. They may want it back.
DEA AGENT SELLS CRIME RECORDS ON BLACK MARKET, SKIPS OUT
EMILIO CALATAYUD, 35, a 12-year veteran of the U.S.
Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)
recently skipped
out on his trial
for illegally selling sensitive information about private citizens from law enforcement computers.
Prosecutors a year ago charged CALATAYUD with wire fraud, bribery, and violation
of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act for allegedly selling criminal history and law enforcement information to private investigations firm Triple Check Investigative Services in Los Angeles.
CALATAYUD was free on a $100,000 property
bond when he failed to appear for trial, and is now being sought by his former colleagues in law enforcement.
THOM MROZEK, a spokesman for the Los Angeles
U.S. Attorney’s office said, “He’s a fugitive. He was out on bail,
he made all of his appearances. Then he didn’t show up for trial.”
The stolen data came from three law
enforcement computers to which CALATAYUD had lawful access:
l
the FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC),
which keeps nationwide records on arrest histories, convictions and warrants;
l the California Law Enforcement Telecommunications
System (CLETS), a state network that gives agents
access to California motor vehicle records, rap sheets and fingerprints;
l
and a DEA system called the Narcotics and
Dangerous Drug Information System (NADDIS), a database of over 3,500,000 individuals, businesses, vessels and selected airfields.
Prosecutors say CALATAYUD peddled data from these sources
for six years beginning in 1993, charging customers
between $60 and $80 per target.
The case was investigated by the
FBI, the Justice Department, the IRS, and the DEA’s
Office of Professional Responsibility.
The discovery that a federal agent
was selling information on private individuals troubled the San Diego-based Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.
Research director TENA FRIERY says, “People in law enforcement
have access to a great deal of personal information. If that information is being used or being sold, it can have
the effect of giving us less security, not more.”
The Washington Post reported that
a system under development in response to the September 11 attacks would link airline reservation computers to
government and private databases, creating a single network capable of tracking a person’s travel habits, credit
card purchases, living arrangements, and other information.
ANTI-GUN
GROUPS EXPLOIT “TERRORIST” AND “LOOPHOLE” LABELS
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence (formerly Handgun
Control, Inc.) has issued news releases saying “terrorists
and guns go together.”
Similarly, a coalition of anti-gun groups -- which calls itself
the National Campaign to Close the Newspaper
Gun Ad Loophole -- released a study claiming
that newspaper classified ads are a “potential source of guns for terrorists, criminals, and the mentally ill.”
In a news release, the National Campaign group said, “Sales through
classified ads allow individuals to avoid going through a criminal background check in most states.”
The group issued a report claiming that more than 75 percent
of the newspapers surveyed in 16 states accept classified ads for the sale of guns. So?
The terrorist argument is also getting a hard workout.
For example, Americans for Gun Safety, the anti-gun group that
pretends to be for gun rights, recently launched an advertising campaign saying, “We’re fighting terrorists around
the world. Why do we let them buy guns in America?”
The Brady Violence people have used the “terrorism” argument
to call for restrictions on gun ownership.
Brady president MICHAEL BARNES argues that terrorists around
the world are taking advantage of “weak American gun laws” to amass weapons.
He did not offer evidence that any terrorist has done so.
IN THE AIR
A United Airlines co-pilot recently
thwarted a cockpit intruder by whacking him with an ax, but many pilots would rather arm themselves with a gun.
The issue has the attention of the
federal government. A public comment period recently ended, asking whether arming pilots with lethal or non-lethal
weapons on a voluntary basis should be permitted.
More than 6,400 entries were submitted
to the Transportation Department.
The nation’s two biggest pilots unions,
representing the overwhelming majority of commercial aviators, want the authority to carry guns.
But their employers, the big airlines,
say it adds needless risk and is unnecessary in light of other planned security enhancements.
Pilots argue the Sept. 11 terrorist
hijackings now demand
flight decks be
defended at all costs.
“Just because the pilot is armed
doesn’t mean he would use deadly force,” said PHILLIP BEALL,
an American Airlines captain and cockpit gun advocate for the union, the Allied Pilots Association. “Every situation
is going to be evaluated on a perceived threat to the integrity of the aircraft.”
The Air Transport Association, the
main lobbying group for big airlines, opposes giving pilots firearms.
MICHAEL WASCOM, ATA spokesman, said, “It’s unnecessary
and it also raises serious safety issues. You can’t discharge a gun in a cockpit without serious consequences.
There are other ways to protect the cabin environment.”
In Canada, however, they’re shooting in airplanes already
-- but only
in training simulators, and it’s
air marshals, not pilots, getting the training.
Canada’s Senate Security and Defence Committee recently heard Deputy
RCMP Commissioner GARRY LOEPPKY describe the training.
LOEPPKY said that air marshals are being
trained in where the vulnerable areas of an aircraft are, and where depressurization would occur more quickly if
a shot was fired through one area rather than another.
ON THE LAND
The U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance has unveiled a new plan to help fight animal and
environmental rights terrorism.
The Alliance, formerly the Wildlife Legislative
Fund of America, is launching an effort to pass new legislation across the fifty states to recognize and penalize these types of acts. The FBI new calls two of the most radical groups, the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) and associated
Animal Liberation Front (ALF), the most active domestic terrorism organizations.
In addition, the model legislation
developed will help
law enforcement officials identify
some of the animal rights organizations that may have been providing assistance to these radical underground groups.
RICK STORY, U.S. Sportsmen’s Alliance
vice president, said, “We are releasing this bill in the hope that state legislators around the U.S. will take
an interest in this issue, and introduce their own bills. Of course, we will aid in this effort by promoting the
bill to our members in the states, and reaching out to other groups who have been victimized or who fear the possibility.
Sportsmen know all too well the power and dangers of extreme animal rights groups. We believe many others will
understand these threats and support our efforts to fight them.”
ASHCROFT TO SPEED UP GUN-BUYER BACKGROUND
CHECKS
Attorney General JOHN ASHCROFT has
moved to accelerate
background checks
on gun buyers and directed that $141 million be spent to upgrade criminal-history records used to perform the checks.
The effort is aimed a correcting flaws in the system, particularly its inability to prevent
gun sales to illegal immigrants or foreign visitors who are not eligible to buy a gun.
ASHCROFT sent an order to the Immigration
and Naturalization Service to search its databases when questions arise about the citizenship of gun buyers.
MARYLAND CONSIDERS
RESTORING LOST GUN RIGHTS
State lawmakers are considering legislation
that would return
gun rights to Maryland residents who lost them because of minor or old infractions.
The draft proposal, which would go
to the House, would restore civil rights to persons “sentenced to serve” 30 days or less for common-law misdemeanors.
Persons sentenced to serve more than
30 days and less than six months would regain that right if more than 10 years pass and they have not been convicted
of any crime other than traffic offenses not punishable by a jail term.
House Speaker CASPER R. TAYLOR, Jr.,
Allegheny County Democrat, said “we have something here that clearly needs to be cleaned up in the law. The trick is to
correct the flaw without going too far.”
ILLINOIS:
GUN GROUP WELCOMES DEFENSIVE FIREARMS BILL
The Illinois State Rifle Association
(ISRA) applauded the introduction of HB 4959, the Family and Personal Protection
Act. The proposal, introduced by Rep. BILL MITCHELL (R-Forsythe), would allow qualified citizens to carry defensive firearms as a means of self-protection.
The bill takes great care to address
legitimate public safety concerns over the qualifications of those who would be licensed under the bill.
Extensive FBI and State Police background
checks would weed
out criminals,
street gang members, and mentally ill individuals. Applicants would also be required to show proof of training,
knowledge of pertinent laws, and show proof of successful completion of live-fire qualification examinations.
Illinois is currently one of a handful of states that prohibit
law-abiding citizens from carrying firearms for self-defense. As a result, said RICHARD PEARSON of ISRA,
“Illinois residents are easy prey for muggers,
murderers and rapists. This is especially unsettling given the fact that Chicago is the nation’s reigning murder capital.”
OHIO:
PLAN WOULD TRUMP LOCAL ANTI-GUN LAWS
State legislators are working to
correct Ohio’s patchwork quilt of local laws that ban different types of guns from one community to another.
They back a bill that would make
Ohio the 43rd state to override local
gun control ordinances and make it legal to own, possess, buy, transport or sell guns or ammunition.