Today we have yet another sad panda alert. Bryan Miller and the Philadelphia Inquirer are whining that Obama is reintroducing a modified version of the Tiahrt Amendment, which allows for more sharing of trace data with police agencies, but not politicians and the media. This is, naturally, outrageous:
“This policy has allowed guns to remain in the hands of hundreds of criminals,” said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. Indeed, without good tracking data on handgun sales, police, federal authorities, and the public have a tough time learning “where the guns are going and which gun dealers are selling to traffickers,” explains Bryan Miller, head of Ceasefire NJ.
You were saying that this gets in the way of law enforcement. Well, law enforcement now has access to the trace data, even in aggregate. They just can’t share it with you guys. Now, at least, we know what this was about all along.
The ATF has the data that Helmke wants.
It is the ATF’s job to investigate gun trafficking crime using the data that it already has.
Helmke implies that the ATF is not doing its job. Helmke implies that the ATF is abetting gun running.
The Tiahrt Amendment is necessary because Helmke’s implications are completely false — he has other motives, and is willing to impugn the ATF to reach his goals.
I thought Bryan Miller has this to say…..http://www.tradebit.com/filedetail.php/835419-crying-baby-sound-effect-wav
“This policy has allowed guns to remain in the hands of hundreds of criminalsâ€
By “Criminals” I’m sure Helmke meant “Civilians”, and we all know how opposed he is to that.