VIRGINIA TECH CASE PROVES BLOOMBERG LIES ABOUT GUN TRACE DATA ACCESS

BELLEVUE, WA – It took less than 24 hours for authorities to trace two handguns used by Virginia Tech gunman Cho Seung Hui, proving that New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is lying when he claims that legitimate law enforcement access to trace data is being blocked by federal law, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) said today.

CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb noted that Bloomberg’s campaign to undo federal legislation that prevents “fishing expedition access” to gun trace data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has just been shown to be based on “fabrication and falsehood.”

“Local police, working with the BATFE, were able to trace both handguns quickly, even though Hui apparently filed off the serial numbers from both guns,” Gottlieb noted. “That could only happen if police currently can access BATFE trace capabilities. Bloomberg’s hysteria-driven effort to undo the federal law that now protects that sensitive data from politically-motivated demagogues like himself is a flimsy sham.

“The swiftness of the law enforcement investigation proves that Mayor Bloomberg has been lying all along about legitimate access to the federal gun trace data,” he said. “This data has remained available for legitimate, on-going criminal investigations despite the federal law, and he knows it.

“Bloomberg’s sole interest in broadening access to that data is so that he and other anti-gun politicians can use it to mount more bogus gun shop stings and bully firearms retailers with harassment lawsuits,” Gottlieb added. “The federal statute was adopted specifically to protect the privacy of American gun owners from politicians like Bloomberg, and to prevent the kind of grandstanding he launched last year with his vigilante operation against gun shops in five states.

“This isn’t about stopping gun crimes, it’s about invading the privacy of law-abiding citizens,” Gottlieb stated. “The speed with which authorities traced the guns used by the Virginia Tech gunman prove that the system works just fine for a legitimate criminal investigation. If Michael Bloomberg continues saying otherwise, that’s a lie.”