NRA-ILA Fax Alert: Gun Registration Lawful

Source: NRA-ILA
Published: 14 July 2000

COURT ALLOWS FBI TO MAINTAIN RECORDS
ON LAW-ABIDING GUN PURCHASERS
On Monday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled in National Rifle Association of America, Inc., et al. v. Janet Reno (see FAX Alerts Vol. 5, No. 50 and Vol. 6, Nos. 3 & 27) that the FBI is not prohibited from maintaining an “Audit Log” on law-abiding gun purchasers who have cleared a National Instant Check System (NICS) check. The 2-1 ruling was sharply divided, however, with two Clinton appointees ruling in favor of Attorney General Janet Reno and the Department of Justice (DOJ), and one Reagan appointee strongly dissenting. NRA’s opinion on the case is very simple — the Brady Act, which established NICS, clearly directs that all information submitted on a firearm purchaser be destroyed immediately once the system determines that the transfer should not be denied. Also, federal law prohibits the registration of gun owners, not only under the Brady Act itself, but also under the 1986 Firearms Owners’ Protection Act. Reno, however, contends that the retention of records, which she refers to as an “Audit Log,” is needed to ensure proper management of NICS. She also claims that the current system (NICS) is not capable of destroying the records of law-abiding gun buyers, and it is her opinion that federal law is not explicit enough to “prohibit generally the recordation of information generated by the NICS.” The majority opinion agreed with Reno and is shot through with Clintonesque ramblings over the possible meanings of words that, for most of us, are quite clear — words such as “record” and “destroy.”

The majority opinion by Judges David S. Tatel and Merrick B. Garland held that federal law “does not prohibit all forms of registration,” and that maintaining the “Audit Log” is permissible because it does not include all firearm owners in the United States, and is not permanent. However, federal law does specifically prohibit “any system of registration of firearms, firearm owners, or firearm transactions or dispositions,” regardless of how complete the records are or how long they are kept. The majority also held that, even though the Brady Act clearly states that the FBI must destroy all records on lawful firearm transfers that are subject to a NICS check, the law sets no specific timetable as to when the records must be destroyed. Tatel and Garland claimed the Brady Act is vague and the court must defer to “agency expertise.”

In his dissent, Judge David B. Sentelle argued that Reno exceeded her authority, and that Congress was clear when it stated that records on lawful gun purchasers subject to NICS must be “destroyed.” Reno’s assertion that the lack of the word “immediately” following Congress’s command to “destroy all records” led Sentelle to write, “The Attorney General’s position strikes me as reminiscent of a petulant child pulling her sister’s hair. Her mother tells her, ?Don’t pull the baby’s hair.’ The child says, ?All right, Mama,’ but again pulls the infant’s hair. Her defense is, ?Mama, you didn’t say I had to stop right now.’ I do not think that the parent’s command to the child is ambiguous, nor that of Congress to the Attorney General.” NRA-ILA Executive Director James Jay Baker commented, “When you have words in the law like ?destroy,’ ?don’t record’ and ?no system of registration,’ it seems fairly obvious to us.”

NRA will be filing a motion for a re-hearing before the full court and will also continue to press for Congressional action to clarify, beyond any doubt, the law that prohibits any retention of information on law-abiding gun purchasers through NICS. On June 21, hearings were held in the U.S. Senate to address recurring problems with the overall operation of NICS (see FAX Alert Vol. 7, No. 25), during which retired U.S. Senator Bob Dole (R-Kan.) testified that his original intent when working on the legislation that eventually became the Brady Act was to mandate the immediate destruction of the records in question. Be sure to let your federal lawmakers know that you would like to see them work with NRA to put an end to the Clinton-Gore Administration’s maintaining any records on law-abiding gun owners. You can contact your U.S. Senators by calling (202) 224-3121, your U.S. Representative by calling (202) 225-3121, or use the “Write Your Reps” tool at www.NRAILA.org.

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