-Caveat Lector- http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010625/pl/scotus_brady_law_1.html Monday June 25 11:19 AM ET NRA Loses Fight Over Brady Law File By ANNE GEARAN, Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - The National Rifle Association lost a Supreme Court appeal Monday over whether the government can retain information about gun buyers under the landmark Brady gun control law. The court, without comment, turned aside the NRA's challenge to the way the FBI handles information gathered from on-the-spot background checks in gun stores. The NRA claimed the FBI's practice of keeping identities of legal gun buyers on file for several months is illegal under the 1993 Brady Act itself, and is akin to compiling a national registry of gun owners. ``The Brady Act was a historic compromise in which firearm purchasers submit to background checks in exchange for the assurance that, once cleared as law-abiding, the government will not compile any record of their identities,'' lawyers for the NRA wrote. So-called instant checks replaced five-day waiting periods under the Brady Act in 1998. The phone checks are performed through the FBI, while the would-be gun buyer waits. In planning for the change to instant checks, the Justice Department, under then-Attorney General Janet Reno, decided the FBI would keep the records for up to six months. Keeping the information would help the FBI debug the system and audit its performance, according to the administrative rule the Justice Department issued. Keeping the log would also protect privacy by helping catch dealers or others who might run unauthorized background checks on people who were not trying to buy a gun, the department said. The FBI eventually cut the length of time it would hang on to records to three months, but the NRA said any record retention should be banned. The NRA sued Reno in federal court on the day the instant checks took effect. The court dismissed the NRA's claim, and a federal appeals court agreed last year. Two of the three judges on the appeals panel found ``nothing in the Brady Act that unambiguously prohibits temporary retention of information about lawful transactions.'' The dissenting judge called the FBI records retention ``an unauthorized power grab'' by the Justice Department. The NRA then appealed to the Supreme Court, setting up a common question for the justices: How does a law passed by Congress square with government regulations imposed later on? The Justice Department urged the high court to let the lower ruling stand. The appeals court correctly found that the FBI's buyer log was a temporary list and was not intended to track gun buyers, the department's lawyers argued. The case is NRA v. Ashcroft, 00-1332. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
