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Brady "Instant" Check to Spell Trouble
-- Possible three-day wait could cripple gun show sales
by Gun Owners of America
8001 Forbes Place, Suite 102, Springfield, VA 22151,
703-321-8585, http://www.gunowners.org
(Friday, April 17, 1998)
Brady Instant Registration Check could take three days;
register gun owners
The BATF (Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms) issued
regulations in February that should concern every gun owner.
The regulations involve the implementation of the so-called
instant check, which is supposed to go on-line in November of
this year.  It turns out, however, that the instant check may
not be so instant after all.  The BATF regulations make it
clear that the feds will have "up to three business days" to
respond to each background check request.
Read that again:  "three business days."  Following these
guidelines, could the feds decide to take the weekends off?  If
so, that would seriously impact all gun dealer sales at weekend
gun shows.  Moreover, since weekends are not typically
considered business days, the "three business days" can easily
impose a five day waiting period for weekend gun sales - or a
six day waiting period if there is a holiday on a Friday or
Monday.  Given the BATF's own verbiage, and given the
President's track record regarding his abuse of firearms
rights, gun owners should be very concerned about the
implications that these regulations carry for gun dealer sales
at weekend gun shows.
Gun Owners of America has strongly opposed the Instant
Registration Check from its inception. Such a check requires a
law-abiding citizen to prove his innocence to government
officials before exercising a right. Furthermore, GOA has
always argued that no matter how many prohibitions are written
into the law, the possibility of gun owner registration is
always present.
BATF wants your Social Security number
GOA's concerns were recently validated when the BATF made it
clear they want gun dealers to retrieve the Social Security
numbers of gun buyers. Providing the feds with the Social
Security number of gun owners enhances their ability to compile
a national gun registry.  (Gun owners should also note that the
feds will be conducting background checks on ALL guns -
shotguns and rifles included.)
It is imperative that your Representative and Senators
understand that gun owners do not want their names to be phoned
in and entered into a federal bureaucrat's computer.  We
repeat: honest gun owners should not have to prove their
innocence to the government before exercising a
constitutional right - any more than a preacher or journalist
should have to prove their worthiness before exercising their
First Amendment rights.
GOA members should have already received the latest GOA
newsletter and legislative alert in the mail. While the GOA
newsletter (dated April 24, 1998) quotes pertinent passages
from the BATF regs, one can also read them in their entirety by
going to http://www.gunowners.org/bitb.htm on the GOA website.
ACTION:
Urge your Representative (1-800-504-0031 or 202-225-3121) to
cosponsor Rep. Ron Paul's H.R. 2721 - a bill which would, among
other things, repeal the Brady "registration" law in its
entirety.   GOA has also posted on the Web a sample opposition
letter to the BATF.  Go to the above mentioned URL and use the
sample letter to compose your own - or copy it word for word if
you're short on time.  But make sure you sound-off to the BATF
before May 20 when the comment period ends. (Grassroots heat
can have a tremendous effect in getting regulatory agencies to
back off their gun control proposals - as we've seen in recent
years with the Forest Service, the EPA and the BLM.  As for the
BATF, go ahead and write them anonymously to protect your
privacy.)
-- Clip & Fax -- (see http://www.gunowners.org/h105th.htm for
fax numbers or call your Rep. and ask)
Dear Representative,
The proposed new BATF regulations calling for the use of Social
Security numbers as part of the information taken during the
purchase of a firearm is a clear invasion of my right to
privacy and another step toward national gun registration.
Even though Congress has passed laws to prevent a national gun
registry, this agency continues to ignore public law, the
Constitution and the express will of the Congress.
Moreover, the proposed BATF regulations will allow federal
bureaucrats up to "three business days" to complete the
background checks on gun buyers.  This "three day" period could
easily be used to cripple gun show sales, and could turn the
supposed "instant" check into a three to six day waiting
period.
The best way to prevent this from infringing upon my rights is
by passing H.R. 2721, a bill to repeal the Brady registration
law.  I urge you to become a sponsor of this important pro-gun
legislation.
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