NEW YORK SENATORS ENDORSE ADDITIONAL GUN-CONTROL MEASURES . . . U.S. Senators Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) have renewed their support for repealing the Tiahrt Amendment -- legislation that restricts firearms tracing data from the public so as to protect the lives of law enforcement officers and the integrity of undercover operations. The New York duo also called on President Obama to store firearm purchasing records of law-abiding citizens (gun owners who have already passed the required FBI background check) for up to 90 days. Currently, such records of law-abiding gun owners must be destroyed within 24 hours. Law enforcement already has the ability to trace all firearms sales to the first retail purchaser, and retailers are required to keep records of all retail sales for 20 years. This required Federal Form 4473 indicates that the purchaser successfully passed the required FBI records check. The purpose of the instant background check is to verify that this first purchaser is legally qualified to buy the firearm and to then allow the retailer to make the sale. This proposal to store background check records does nothing to assist law enforcement, since the records already exist in a readily traceable form at the retailer level -- and would create a federal registry of firearms purchasers, which Congress has specifically forbidden.
