Gun Lawyer: Data Doesn’t Incriminate

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Gun Lawyer: Data Doesn’t Incriminate
Reaction to lawsuit filed by NAACP
A top lawyer for the firearms industry yesterday said that federal
gun data revealing some of the top retail sources of handguns used in
crimes does not prove that the retailers or gun manufacturers did
anything wrong. “The mere fact a firearm has been traced does not
mean that anyone in the chain [of distribution] has done anything
wrong,” said Lawrence G. Keane, vice president and general counsel of
the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a firearms industry trade
association. … Keane said the trace data is not helpful in making
the NAACP’s case. The ATF gun data had not been circulated to anyone
outside of law enforcement, Keane said. As a result, the gun industry
could not use the material to look for corrupt or unethical dealers,
he maintained. “The ATF has said repeatedly they do not want
manufacturers to engage in looking for corrupt dealers,” Keane said.
Keane noted that the numbers did not indicate if the traces
represented a large or small number of guns sold by a retailer. He
also pointed out that the Jovino company is a reputable firm from
which police officers buy handguns. Guns bought at Jovino have shown
up in some noteworthy criminal cases. In 1986, a former federal
immigration investigator was charged with illegally buying an arsenal
of 27 guns, including some reportedly from the company. The retailer
was not charged in the case. Keane emphasized it would be unfair to
conclude that any firm on the ATF list was corrupt. …
http://www.nynewsday.com/news/local/brooklyn/nyc-
nygun183242727apr18,0,7382712.story?coll=nyc-manheadlines-brooklyn