Tiahrt under attack AGAIN!

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And just when we thought that particular lunacy was over:


http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070710/pl_nm/usa_guns_mayors_dc;_ylt=AmusIfd.U0D.EffYiqKphn8a.3QA

"Mayors press Congress over gun trace law

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - More than 200 U.S. mayors urged Congress on Tuesday to stop "pandering" to the gun lobby and repeal an amendment that they say makes it harder for police to trace illegal firearms carried between states.

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, an independent mentioned as a possible presidential contender, helped lead the uphill bid to eliminate the amendment ahead of a vote on it this week by the House Appropriations Committee.

The Mayors Against Illegal Guns group, which says it has more than 225 mayors representing 50 million constituents, wants Congress to strike down the Tiahrt Amendment, a measure attached to a law enforcement funding bill every year since 2003.

The amendment, which imposes confidentiality limits on firearms trace data compiled by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, is named for Rep. Todd Tiahrt, the Kansas Republican who first sponsored it.

Tiahrt had no immediate comment on the drive against it, a spokesman said.

But Bloomberg, flanked by mayors and police officers on Capitol Hill, declared, "The Tiahrt Amendment is the most anti-cop, soft-on-crime law Congress has passed in years."

"It prevents our police officers from tracking the illegal gun trade, and locking up those who engage in it," he said, adding that the September 11 attacks had shown the importance of all agencies sharing information at a federal and local level.

Yet supporters of the amendment appeared to have the votes to preserve the measure in a Congress reluctant to take on the powerful gun lobby.

Backers of the amendment say it aims to provide sensitive information on gun tracing just to law enforcement agencies and to keep it out of the hands of politicians and special interest groups. They say opening up the database more widely endangers undercover police and investigations.

Bloomberg said that how the House handles the amendment would be a test of the new Democrat-led Congress.

"Are they going to continue the old line -- politics as usual, pandering to a handful of special interest groups? Or are they going to do what's right?" he said.

Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, a New York Democrat whose husband was killed by a gunman, said pro-gun groups were "holding us all hostage." She urged citizens to pressure lawmakers before the amendment comes to a committee vote.

"Let the members of Congress understand there are actually other people out there that have a different opinion than the NRA," she said, referring to the National Rifle Association, the most powerful U.S. gun lobby group."

People, you really and truly need to get on your phone and FAX machine and tell your Representative to support and maintain the Tiahrt Amendment exactly as it is currently written!

The definitive answer to this was found here:

http://www.scrippsnews.com/node/22041

PLEASE get busy and support Tiahrt! TODAY! Thanks! Pete

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This is probably going to go down in the House Appropriations Committee tomorrow Thursday the 12th - so it is vital that you all contact your Representatives about this before then - now/this evening/tomorrow morning.

Remember - you want the Tiahrt Amendment left as is with no expansion or "loosening" of the current amendment!

Please do so! Pete

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http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,289141,00.html

"Efforts to Open Gun-Purhcase Records Fail in House Committee
Thursday, July 12, 2007

WASHINGTON — Pro-gun rights Democrats teamed with House Republicans on Thursday to block local governments and law enforcement agencies from gaining routine access to gun-purchasing data.

The House Appropriations Committee defeated two attempts by gun control advocates to strip four-year-old restrictions on the use of information from Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives tracing gun sales. The votes were a victory for the National Rifle Association and came despite the Democratic takeover of Congress in January.

The committee's emotional debate often focused on broader gun rights issues rather than the matter at hand, involving when the bureau can share such information.

Gun control advocates say the gun sales data is essential to uncovering dealers who sell guns that disproportionately end up in the hands of criminals.

Gun rights advocates, led by Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan., said mayors such as New York City's Michael Bloomberg want the data to sue out-of-state gun dealers.

Tiahrt, the key sponsor of the restrictions on sharing gun trace data, also said easing the restrictions could lead to the disclosure of police officers' identities and other details to criminals.

"What the Tiahrt amendment does is protect those who protect us," Tiahrt said.

Pro-gun advocates say the data-sharing restrictions protect gun owners' privacy. But Bloomberg and other mayors contend they hamper law enforcement authorities' ability to trace illegal guns and arrest weapons traffickers.

"This handcuffs the cops, not the criminals," said Rep. C.A. "Dutch" Ruppersberger, D-Md.

More than a dozen Democrats, most from rural districts, joined with all but two committee Republicans to defeat a bid by Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., to ease the data sharing restrictions but ensure that police officers' names would not be compromised.

Earlier, a bid by Rep. Jim Moran, D-Va., to reject Tiahrt's language altogether lost by a voice vote.

The mayors say gun tracing data helps police departments determine the source of illegal guns, who buys them and how they are distributed.

Almost three-fifths of guns used in crimes are sold by just 1 percent of gun dealers, who forge relationship with gun traffickers making multiple purchases.

Under Bloomberg, who recently left the GOP amid speculation he may run for president as an independent, the city has sued out-of-state gun dealers in an attempt to reduce the flow of illegal guns into New York. The NRA-backed restrictions block cities from getting ATF data for such suits.

The committee chairman, Rep. David Obey — a liberal Democrat representing a rural Wisconsin district — said the issue was only marginally related to gun rights. He opposed the efforts to ease the data restrictions.

But Obey lashed out at both the NRA, which failed to endorse him in his most recent race despite his pro-gun rights record, and Bloomberg. He said the mayor's representatives came to his office and threatened to run television ads attacking him.

The votes came as the committee approved a $53.6 billion bill for the departments of Commerce and Justice, as well as NASA and science programs."

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Thanks to all who contacted your legislator's about this one. Hopefully it's now been put to bed for awhile. (Which is where I should be!). Pete

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Rep. Patrick Kennedy in the frame here?

Was this not the lout who wrapped his car up in DC last year,swore on a stack of bibles that he was not plastered at the time,and blamed the wreck on his meds?

The same buffoon who, instead of taking up the wholesome sport of shooting, prefers to waste his money on booze, dope and strumpets? In fact,behaving like many others of his dubious pedigree? American Royalty? Guttersnipes, in actuality.

TrueBrit.

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lol! Yes - doesn't Rep. Kennedy make the perfect poster-child for the types of people who work for the "Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence" and Bloomberg?