will put the power of the lead program into all 331 ATF offices throughout the United States," former ATF director John Magaw said. "Investigators will have immediate and direct access to the statistics and information provided by that database.
Trace information will now be available nationwide within 24 hours of the completed trace.
"Online Lead
will greatly enhance law enforcement's ability to detect, imprison, and deter criminals-- the criminals behind the criminal who are illegally supplying guns to our communities," said treasury secretary Lawrence Summers.
The system presently contains more than 1 million crime-gun traces.
"We have computerized our firearms traces all the way back to 1989," said ATF special agent Dennis Murphy, who is with the crime-gun analysis branch. Murphy serves as the project's lead coordinator.
"Let's say we wanted to know what firearms were traced in 1999 on Minnesota Avenue, in Washington, D.C. If you're a local police officer and part of your beat in Washington, D.C. is Minnesota Avenue," Murphy said, "it would be helpful for you to know how many crime guns have been recovered this year on that stretch of road."
Murphy sets up an example, in which a series of different firearms are traced from records of guns recovered on Minnesota Avenue.
The first gun in Murphy's fictional example shows where the gun was purchased, information on Joe Doe, the original purchaser, where the gun was recovered, and the fact that officer Dave Smith requested the trace. It also includes the details on the weapon itself.
Many of the recovered guns are stored in a firearms library in Washington, D.C. The vault contains conventional guns and rifles, as well as rare firearms such as a self-contained, silenced machine gun.
"These are just a few of the firearms that we have in our firearms library. Many of these are in the firearms trace database," said special agent Tracey Hite. "They've been recovered in crimes and ATF agents have submitted these for our firearms library. They help us determine the function and capability of firearms that are involved in ongoing cases."
Online Lead can tell you just about anything you want to know about most of these guns.
When a gun is recovered, instant access to more than a million records is invaluable to law enforcement. Online Lead can do better than any human being can by identifying multiple gun sale trends, and pinpointing gun trafficking.
What your address
The NRA wants a kinder, gentler type of gun control?
Give 'em a few more years and the database will be up to speed. Then the fun begins.
Peter Troy's history of mental illness made it illegal for him to own the gun that police say he used to spray bullets at a Long Island church, killing the priest and a worshipper.
"The entire lynchpin of our system to keep guns out of the wrong hands is the records in the background check system, and those records are in deplorable shape," said Jim Kessler, policy and research director of Americans for Gun Safety. "This will make a difference."
Perhaps you can tell that to a totally innocent 20-year-old Joseph Schultz who was shot point blank in the face by FBI-agent Christopher Braga who went Scott-free. Ask Joseph Schultz which he fears morel; some lunatic with a gun or an FBI agent with a gun? He may reply, "what's the difference?"
No, it couldn't have, you ignorant gun grabbing socialist knobhead.
My, oh my, but the taxpayers have deep pockets. I wonder what Congress would have done had he decided to drive a car into a crowd of people at the church, instead.
You all better watch-out.
I love how they conveniently tag on "and others legally barred" as this gives them the opportunity to constantly and capriciously add on any other offense that can be used to prohibit people from owning guns. Pretty soon speeding tickets and seatbelt violations will be applied to NICS checks.
Here is what is wrong with this "responsible, gun-safety legislation." John Doe receives a death threat from the rapist whose ass he kicked the day before while protecting a teenage girl from having her innocense stolen. He, out of fear for his life, as well as his family's lives, wants to buy a simple rifle (not even a handgun). The system messes up, and it is going to take 72 hours for this man to get his weapon (a rifle, not an "evil handgun). 65 hours later, a man bursts through his front door and kills him, rapes his wife, and molests his little girl. Now is that responsible or safe? Didn't think so.
Or, in this case; same senario, they updated the system so well that it brings up the time, 16 years ago, he and a few buddies on leave from the military, got into a bar room scuffle. He plead guilty, even though he didn't start the brawl, in order to get back on base without being court martialed for the unbecoming behavior, without ever knowing that the "delayed" consequence would be a loss of his constitutional rights 16 years down the road. Again, 65 hours later, a man bursts through his front door and kills him, rapes his wife, and molests his little girl. This could have been avoided if only he had been able to read the future, 16 years earlier, when using a legal manuever in order to get his troubles over and behind him.
The sad thing is that liberal President Bush won't veto this when it comes to his desk.
AND IT WILL STILL NOT BE "INSTANT" and more prone to delays, which are frequent instead of unusual,regardless of what the article says.
This is true here in the SW. We have a gun show on the weekends and POOF!, the system is down, or delayed, or won't answer. As an FFL that means a lost sale.
Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y should look into fixing the problems with the existing system instead of creating an avenue for more restrictions on gun-owners. What a nit.
And watch out, the usual suspects will try to hang every piece of anti-gun legislation on the back of this, including a permanent assault weapons ban, more restrictive gun-show "loophole" closer, registration for gun-show promoters and ATTENDEES, much like S.90.
Private reply OK.