CCRKBA SAYS TIAHRT AMENDMENT SHOULD BE PROTECTED, NOT REPEALED

BELLEVUE, WA – Sensitive gun trace data for criminal investigations should be protected, not opened up to the access of every lawsuit-happy political demagogue, as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and his cronies in the Mayors Against Illegal Guns coalition would like to have happen.

The House Appropriations Committee may vote this week to reauthorize the Tiahrt Amendment, which prevents anti-gun mayors and their political police administrators from getting access to that data, and the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) is urging gun owners to contact their congressional representatives.

“Mayor Bloomberg and others of his ilk covet that sensitive data for their own political agenda,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, “and they need to be stopped. Even Michael Sullivan, acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, wants that data protected, and that should be all Congress needs to know to make the right decision about this important legislation.

“Bloomberg and any number of politically-motivated mayors and police chiefs have claimed they cannot access that data to fight crime, and that’s not true,” Gottlieb noted. “BATF gun trace data is available for legitimate on-going criminal investigations, and they know it.

“Criminal investigations are what that data is designed for, not frivolous harassment lawsuits aimed at driving gun dealers and distributors, and even manufacturers, out of business,” he stated. “Bloomberg, the anti-gun Brady Campaign, and others want this data compromised for their own political aggrandizement. Gun owners need to call and write Congress to protect the integrity of that data, and keep Bloomberg’s grubby little fingers off of it.

“Michael Bloomberg and other anti-gun mayors have no business accessing gun trace data,” Gottlieb said. “Their desire to make a headline is far outweighed by the need to protect criminal investigations and prevent abuse by politicians who wrongly believe that trampling on gun rights somehow translates to fighting crime.”