Tiahrt: one paper gets it right
A quick check of the NRA Web site, admittedly a player with an agenda, tells a different story. For one thing, it provides more information about the two amendments the committee killed. The first would have done away with the Tiahrt language altogether and made BATFE data public record for anyone to see. The second, a so-called compromise, would have allowed access to the data to anyone who filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the feds. The NRA also points out that many police agencies support the Tiahrt language as a way of protecting officers. Those agencies don’t seem to believe opening the database is a good idea.
And this is beautiful:
If Bloomberg has information that dealers are illegally selling guns that end up in his city, he should stop grandstanding, share that information with the BATFE and allow the feds to do their jobs.
We’re not accusing the AP of bias*, but we did want to use the story to illustrate the importance of getting information from various sources. Maybe if Mayor Bloomberg had done that, he would know about the federal government’s role in closing gun shops that don’t follow the law.
* I, however, am.
