All that data that Bloomberg and Helmke say cops don’t have access to but they should. Well, turns out the ATF does give the data. But don’t take my word for it, since I’ve said it a lot. Take the word of ATF Director Michael Sullivan, who says:

“During the past several weeks, numerous questions and articles have arisen in the media, regarding the ability of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to share firearms trace data among members of the law-enforcement community. With the recent tragic events surrounding the senseless criminal use of firearms; I felt the need to clarify this important issue.
…….
Our agency routinely shares trace data with state and local law-enforcement agencies in support of investigations within their respective jurisdictions. Once a requesting agency receives law-enforcement-sensitive trace data from ATF, it becomes the agency’s data to disseminate and share with other law-enforcement entities as it deems appropriate.

Let me be clear: neither the congressional language nor ATF rules prohibit the sharing of trace data with law enforcement conducting criminal investigations, or place any restrictions on the sharing of trace data with other jurisdictions once it is in the hands of state or local law enforcement.

Now, will Bloomberg and Helmke admit the real change they want? Which is to get unfettered access to the data in support of civil suits against gun makers, even though said suits are illegal.

Posted in uncategorized on May 3rd, 2007 by SayUncle | RSS 2.0 |