The Dallas Morning News

WASHINGTON – Attorney General John Ashcroft announced Thursday that the Justice Department will sharply reduce the amount of time the FBI can retain the records of gun purchasers' instant criminal background checks.

The move, which came just three days after the Supreme Court rebuffed the National Rifle Association's bid for immediate destruction of the records, was denounced by gun-control groups as pandering to the gun lobby.

Mr. Ashcroft said his directive that the FBI destroy the records after one business day, down from the current 90-day policy, would "improve the accuracy, efficiency and reliability of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System."

Congress required the instant background check system as part of the Brady law. Federal law-enforcement officials have used the records to conduct periodic audits to ferret out possible fraud and abuse by gun dealers and purchasers.

Mr. Ashcroft said that system would be replaced with more reliable "real-time" computerized audits.

Precisely why WE should continue to vote GOP![:D]

Now you can begin to appreciate the reasons that Ashcroft's nomination was so hotly opposed by the liberal Left.

Of course, such a move would only have been made with the advance approval of George W.

Eric The(IFeelBetterAlready)Hun[>]:)]

I wonder if the Justice Department's Inspector General (IG) would respond to a "whiste-blower" request for an investigation of Abuse of government property (not destroying NCI records as mandated by law) under the current Fraud, Waste, and Abuse statutes?

I seems that the improper retention of these records is a matter of public knowledge, so I don't know what more evidence one would need to trigger an investigation.

I'll bet that these records are also retained routinely as part of computerized data back-ups; those would have to be purged, as well.

Maybe one of the Feds who monitors this site will take it upon himself to do our freedoms a little favor.