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VPC Launches Suit Against DOJ
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"...The regulation in question... would
codify the illegal requirement that DOJ retain information on
lawful gun purchasers..." |
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The anti-gun extremists at the Violence Policy Center (VPC), an
obscure group best known for its wild distortions of the truth
and its call for a ban on all handguns, filed a lawsuit on Monday
against U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft
and the Department of
Justice (DOJ).
VPC claims that a recent DOJ decision to delay a
Clinton Administration regulation, while conducting a careful
review, is illegal. The regulation in question, however, would
codify the illegal requirement that DOJ retain information on
lawful gun purchasers who have not had their purchase of a
firearm denied after undergoing a background check through the
National Instant Check System (NICS).
Section 103(I) of the Brady
Act clearly provides that no federal agency may
- "require that any record" generated by NICS "be recorded at or transferred to a
facility owned, managed, or controlled by the United States," or
- use NICS "to establish any system for the registration of
firearms, firearm owners, or firearm transactions," except of
ineligible persons.
Additionally, 18 U.S.C. 922(t)(2), spells out
that, if a person may lawfully receive a firearm, NICS shall
assign a unique number, provide the number to the dealer, and
"destroy all records of the system with respect to the call"
(other than the number and the date) and "all records of the
system relating to the person or the transfer."
NRA has been challenging the legality of the Clinton regulation
in court for several years. We
certainly appreciate the new AG
taking time to look into the Clinton/Reno regulation, and hope he
will do what he can to ensure NICS operates as originally
intended - instantly, efficiently, and without infringing on the
rights of the law-abiding.
The VPC suit is just the latest phase of an organizational
vendetta the group has launched against AG Ashcroft. The VPC, you
will recall, aggressively opposed Ashcroft's nomination as
Attorney General, launching a grossly misleading smear campaign
that even went so far as to demand the AG resign his NRA Life
Membership. Since that failed anti-Ashcroft campaign, VPC has
launched other attacks, most recently openly questioning the AG's
honesty and integrity when he affirmed that the Second Amendment
protects an individual right.
Of course, this is the same VPC
that regularly attacks firearm safety programs, including NRA's
highly-acclaimed (even by many "gun control" proponents) Eddie
Eagle GunSafe® Program. And in April 2000, when given an
opportunity to testify before the House Judiciary Committee's
Subcommittee on Crime regarding the proven crime-fighting
"Project Exile" prosecution model, VPC's representative spent
most of her time simply attacking NRA.
Related Stories...
CFA & VPC Support New Regulations for Gun Makers
Schism Between Gun Control Groups
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