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Posted on 03/25/2004 5:25:25 PM PST by neverdem
A bill limiting police management of gun records, drafted by the National Rifle Association, wins preliminary approval in the Florida Senate.
TALLAHASSEE - Police departments would be banned from compiling some gun records that could help them solve some crimes more quickly, under a proposal that legislators want the governor to sign into law.
The bill, drafted by the National Rifle Association, got preliminary approval Wednesday by the state Senate. Democrats from South Florida opposed it as anti-law enforcement.
But Sen. Durell Peaden, a Crestview Republican, said it is needed to stop back-door gun control.
Reading from an NRA-supplied fact sheet, Peaden said police should stop compiling electronic records of gun sales -- particularly from pawnshops -- because it amounts to an ''illegal'' intrusion into gun owners' rights.
''This information has nothing to do with criminal investigations or guns that have [been used in] committing crimes,'' Peaden said. ``This bill only stops the illegal compiling of computerized lists of law-abiding firearms owners. It stops gun registration.''
The proposal, which is supported by a number of police associations, doesn't prohibit law enforcement from keeping paper records that pawnshops furnish to police on a regular basis.
But those records, involving four million transactions in Broward County alone, pile up so quickly that large agencies such as the Broward Sheriff's Office keep the information in computer databases that allow for easy storage and quick access.
With the stroke of a key, an investigator can quickly locate an item found at a crime scene, whether it involves a toaster or a gun.
Under the bill heard Wednesday, police could keep the electronic gun-related record for only 60 days after receiving it from a pawnshop. They could keep it longer if the gun were connected to an ongoing investigation or to a number of other cases that include civil-court proceedings or seizure of firearms in domestic violence cases.
Senate Minority Leader Ron Klein, of Delray Beach, said the bill runs contrary to Florida's effort to manage reams of information -- from bad drivers to bad doctors -- in databases.
''This body, and our government, has been really going full speed ahead on technology and the computerizing of records, and it's a much more efficient way of doing it than paper-trail records,'' Klein said.
``Why are we doing something to possibly inhibit the solving of a crime?''
Sen. Rod Smith, an Alachua Democrat who supports the bill, pointed out that police could still thumb through paper pawnshop records.
Smith stressed that police associations openly supported the bill because it gives them enough exemptions to continue to investigate crimes.
Earlier, Smith said he had worked to improve aspects of the bill, which once mentioned Fidel Castro and Adolf Hitler as gun-list enthusiasts.
The gun-list bill needs a final vote in the Senate. It would then head back to the House, which approved a similar measure that lacked the exemptions added Wednesday.
From the House, it would go to Gov. Jeb Bush's desk, perhaps as early as next week. Bush has not said whether he would sign it into law.
mcaputo@herald.com
With the stroke of a key, an investigator can quickly locate an item found at a crime scene, whether it involves a toaster or a gun...
Under the bill heard Wednesday, police could keep the electronic gun-related record for only 60 days...
They could keep it longer if the gun were connected to an ongoing investigation or to a number of other cases that include civil-court proceedings or seizure of firearms in domestic violence cases.
That's not gun registration, that's just a normal weekly backup CD, Sir.
[nudge,nudge,wink,wink]
LEGISLATION
REGISTRATION
CONFISCATION
EXTERMINATION
I do not recall anyone fillling out form 4473 for a frickin toster, although that makes about as much sense as filling one out for a gun.
''This body, and our government, has been really going full speed ahead on technology and the computerizing of records, and it's a much more efficient way of doing it than paper-trail records,'' Klein said. ``Why are we doing something to possibly inhibit the solving of a crime?''
Nothing of the sort as the only way to use the "information" is to actually be reading the serial number from a gun that already has been located under SUSPICIOUS curcumstances.... M - O - R - O - N - ! They are also not "suposed" to keep the paper forms either, but.....nudge nudge, winkie wink.
Earlier, Smith said he had worked to improve aspects of the bill, which once mentioned Fidel Castro and Adolf Hitler as gun-list enthusiasts.
And that bit of true fact was removed... why?
From the House, it would go to Gov. Jeb Bush's desk, perhaps as early as next week. Bush has not said whether he would sign it into law.
Jeb, `ol buddy, you HAPPEN to remember what happened to your dear old dad?
Kudos to the NRA. Just for once I would like to know what that other gun group does except collect dues and criticize the NRA.
Democrats oppose. If gun owners voted a straight Republican ticket, we wouldn't have gun control.
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