I just love it when the L.A. Times is howling mad. Looks like our friends at the NRA has touched on a nerve. Let go press on it and see what happens next. I personally think some of the Clinton-era laws need to be revisited
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http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-ed-guns2jan02,1,3333161.story

Brady Law Works; Let It Be
January 2, 2004

The National Rifle Assn. has steadily opposed the Brady law, which requires a
background check of potential gun buyers. Now, with a friendly majority in
Congress, the pro-gun lobby is close to significantly weakening this vital crime
control tool. The House passed legislation before its holiday recess that would
require the FBI to destroy gun buyer records within 24 hours of the sale of a
weapon, wiping out a database that police use to solve gun crimes and rescind
some gun sales. The Senate will take up the NRA-drafted proposal this month, and
senators who regularly declare themselves to be tough on crime will have no
choice but to oppose it.

The Brady Handgun Violence Protection Act, approved in 1993, requires that would-be
handgun buyers pass a national computer background check before they can walk
out of the store with their new weapons. Prospective purchasers are barred if
they've been convicted of a felony or domestic violence, are "mentally defective"
or are the subject of a restraining order or arrest warrant.

The law has worked well so far. Ninety-one percent of the time, the person gets
an instant green light to buy the gun; last year, the checks disqualified 136,000
dangerous or unstable people. That part of the law would remain untouched.
However, federal law requires the Justice Department to keep those electronic
records for 90 days. FBI agents combing through this data sometimes discover
that incomplete or incorrect information let someone who can't legally buy a
handgun get one anyway. That's how the FBI retrieved more than 18,000 firearms
since 1994 from ineligible buyers, according to federal studies. Law enforcement
agencies also use this database to trace recently purchased weapons used in
crimes.

Supporters of requiring the FBI to purge its records daily, including sponsor
Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.), argue that the measure would protect the privacy of
law-abiding citizens. By that reasoning, state motor vehicle departments should
purge all data relating to licensed drivers.

Federal monitoring of firearm purchases has gotten faster and more accurate
since the Brady law took effect. The FBI's computer check system is based on
records fed from local law enforcement agencies. Los Angeles Police Chief
William J. Bratton has declared: "I'm very opposed to this effort to make the
Brady law toothless, and I just don't understand how Congress members can even
consider it. Obviously they haven't shown up at the scene of enough officer
shootings."

The Brady bill works and there's no reason to change it.

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Copyright 2004 Los Angeles Times

Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.), argue that the measure would protect the privacy of
law-abiding citizens. By that reasoning, state motor vehicle departments should
purge all data relating to licensed drivers.>

And just where is the constitution does it say you have the right to drive a car?

These fools think that the Brady Bill is the law that prevents people charged/convicted of domestic violence from being allowed to own a firearm. They need to read up on the Lautenberg Amendment, what a bunch of jack@sses!!!!

The same people who said Gray Davis was really doing a good job and should stay the governor.  HA!

I have never ever once heard of the FBI "rescinding" a gun check after delivery. Has the LAT access to info that no one else in the US does?

Isn't it the Brady law itself that states that the records must be destroyed after 24 hours?

Edit: Oh never mind, that's the 90 day statute. I remember when they put up a fit over the enforcement of that part, even though that was the law as it was written. Idiots.

One question I ALWAYS ask when someone starts spouting these statistics:

Okay, if 136,000 ineligible people were prevented from purchasing a handgun (which is in itself a felony) last year, how many of those were prosecuted and put in jail for the 5 years required by law?

Response: blank stare.  Stupid to have a law you aren't going to enforce.

Only 18,000 guns since 1994! What? So how many went to the pen?

I was told by my FFL that a person came in with his CCW permit to purchase a pistol(legal here)He had purchased many guns from the FFL. HE was delayed. The same day, He went to the sheriffs office picked up a purchase permit. Was approved.  Picked up the pistol and had the "required" safty inspection. Six months later the ATF called my FFL and had all the paperwork faxed to them. He had to turn in the pistol and file a appeal. He lost his CCW and all his guns.  Eight months and much Money later he had all his guns returned after paying a transfer fee for each gun. Still no CCW permit.