by Joanne Kenen
Thursday, December 06, 2001 2:26 p.m. EST
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Attorney General John Ashcroft said on Thursday that the FBI cannot have access to gun purchase records as part of its terrorism probe, an assertion that provoked anger from several of his critics in Congress.
Several lawmakers also criticized gun makers who they said were trying to exploit the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States. One manufacturer, for instance, is marketing on its Web site a .50-caliber weapon nicknamed the "Turban Chaser."
Appearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee to defend a some of the Bush administration's weapons in the war on terrorism, Ashcroft was quizzed by Sen. Edward Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, about the gun-purchase record policy. Kennedy said the Justice Department was "handcuffing" the FBI.
Waxman and McCarthy also faulted gun makers for allegedly trying to use terrorism fears to boost sales. For instance, they noted that a company called Tronix is promoting the "Turban-Chaser" while Ithaca Gun's Web site touts the "Homeland Security Model."
Ithaca Gun calls the gun "the civilian version of the shotgun carried by U.S. troops around the world, for over 30 years and in three wars. ... It is produced to protect our homes, our neighborhoods and our nation throughout this dark time in our history."
(Additional reporting by Deborah Charles)
Footnote: I had to trim out some of the text since it was too long to fit in one post.