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Ashcroft upholding gun laws
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Ashcroft upholding gun lawsJACK WILLIAMS IIIYOUR TURN Should it be OK to study gun-purchase records of possible terrorists? Yes. 33% 3381 No. 67% 6909 I can't decide. 0% 37 Total Votes 10327 RELATED EditorialAshcroft impedes effort to track potential terrorists.
The horrific events of the past few months and the manner in which Americans have responded have been a testament to the resolve of the American people.We have prevailed relying on the ideals and values that our forefathers founded this nation upon. Yet, in this time of national unity, there are those who wish to circumvent the Constitution and oppress the freedom afforded the law-abiding citizens of this nation.If Sept. 11 has taught us anything, it is that we need to safeguard our rights, not relinquish them.Attorney General John Ashcroft inherited a U.S. Justice Department riddled with Clinton administration political holdovers. From the standpoint of an outsider, such as me, it seemed that serving as the untouchable foundation for justice in our country was almost an afterthought for the Justice Department during the Clinton era.When Ashcroft took an oath to the American people to uphold the law and protect the civil liberties that this nation was founded upon, I believed him. Thus far, he has done nothing to betray my trust in him. In my opinion, allowing any law enforcement agency to circumvent the laws on FBI background checks for gun purchases, which in this case were set by the Brady Act in 1993, would not only be a crime, but a violation of the rights of all law-abiding Americans. I applaud Ashcroft for standing on principle.To me, the question is not whether we should be able to tell whether alleged terrorists illegally purchased guns, but how to keep them from buying guns in the first place. Let me give you some background on the National Instant Check System for gun purchases.In 1993, Congress directed the FBI to create NICS. Its mission is to instantly detect convicted criminals trying to buy guns. It was supported by a $314 million appropriation of taxpayers' money and was given five years to upgrade state criminal records.Over that time, Congress requested several updates from then-Attorney General Janet Reno. Its inquiries went unanswered.In March 2000, the General Accounting Office audited the FBI's implementation of NICS. The study revealed rudimentary deficiencies. The FBI had no back-up system. Instead of building a dedicated database with necessary information, it strung together existing databases (with irrelevant data). Also, this system failed to meet self-imposed system security standards.More perplexing was the Justice Department's failure to ensure that the funding was properly spent on the Instant Check database. Sources inside our government say the money was wasted on fingerprinting equipment. No one knows the truth, as a systematic audit was never performed.What happened?The answer is politics, Clinton style. http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/opinion/1201/1207edequal.html
The horrific events of the past few months and the manner in which Americans have responded have been a testament to the resolve of the American people.We have prevailed relying on the ideals and values that our forefathers founded this nation upon. Yet, in this time of national unity, there are those who wish to circumvent the Constitution and oppress the freedom afforded the law-abiding citizens of this nation.If Sept. 11 has taught us anything, it is that we need to safeguard our rights, not relinquish them.Attorney General John Ashcroft inherited a U.S. Justice Department riddled with Clinton administration political holdovers. From the standpoint of an outsider, such as me, it seemed that serving as the untouchable foundation for justice in our country was almost an afterthought for the Justice Department during the Clinton era.When Ashcroft took an oath to the American people to uphold the law and protect the civil liberties that this nation was founded upon, I believed him. Thus far, he has done nothing to betray my trust in him. In my opinion, allowing any law enforcement agency to circumvent the laws on FBI background checks for gun purchases, which in this case were set by the Brady Act in 1993, would not only be a crime, but a violation of the rights of all law-abiding Americans. I applaud Ashcroft for standing on principle.To me, the question is not whether we should be able to tell whether alleged terrorists illegally purchased guns, but how to keep them from buying guns in the first place. Let me give you some background on the National Instant Check System for gun purchases.In 1993, Congress directed the FBI to create NICS. Its mission is to instantly detect convicted criminals trying to buy guns. It was supported by a $314 million appropriation of taxpayers' money and was given five years to upgrade state criminal records.Over that time, Congress requested several updates from then-Attorney General Janet Reno. Its inquiries went unanswered.In March 2000, the General Accounting Office audited the FBI's implementation of NICS. The study revealed rudimentary deficiencies. The FBI had no back-up system. Instead of building a dedicated database with necessary information, it strung together existing databases (with irrelevant data). Also, this system failed to meet self-imposed system security standards.More perplexing was the Justice Department's failure to ensure that the funding was properly spent on the Instant Check database. Sources inside our government say the money was wasted on fingerprinting equipment. No one knows the truth, as a systematic audit was never performed.What happened?The answer is politics, Clinton style. http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/opinion/1201/1207edequal.html