Schumer Stops Stealth NRA Ploy to Ease Restrictions on Rogue Gun Dealers from Vote on Senate Floor

Schumer Stops Stealth NRA Ploy To Ease Restrictions On Rogue Gun Dealers From Vote On Senate Floor

Bill Ties Hands of ATF, Making it Harder to Punish Gun Dealers Who Violate Laws and Fail to Keep Records

Bill Sent to Senate Floor for Unanimous Consent from House

Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer blocked the latest ploy by the NRA to tie the hands of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms and make it harder for them to punish the kind of rogue gun dealers responsible for so many of the guns on the streets of New York City and other cities around the country. On Tuesday night H.R. 5092 passed the House and the bill was then was sent over to the Senate where the gun lobby expected it to pass by unanimous consent without anyone noticing. Schumer blocked the bill from going to Senate floor today by placing a hold on the bill thereby ensuring it does not make it to the Senate floor before the Senate recesses for the year.

"This political ploy by the NRA is beyond the pale," Schumer said. "We saw the disastrous effects of Tiahrt amendment passing in the dead of night and making it harder for us to identify and shut down rogue gun operations across the country. This bill makes punishing those dealers even more difficult and now it doesn't have a chance of passing the Senate without debate and examination. I am confident that once reasonable people understand the anti-law enforcement elements of this bill, it will generate significant opposition."

The bill makes it much more difficult for law enforcement to stop firearms from getting from gun dealers who break federal law into the hands of violent criminals. Specifically, HR 5092 makes it next to impossible for the ATF to revoke the licenses of gun dealer that break federal law. Instead of revoking the licenses of these gun dealers, ATF could only impose minimal fines and invoke temporary suspensions, but even for these penalties ATF will have to meet a new extraordinary burden of proof. HR 5092 requires that ATF prove a lawbreaker's specific mental state and purpose, in other words that a corrupt gun dealer not only broke the law but specifically intended to break the law. This burden of proof would make it next to impossible for ATF to revoke federal firearms licenses, protecting lawbreakers and jeopardizing public safety.

The bill also redefines many violations of federal gun laws as "minor," including a dealer's failure to account for large numbers of firearms missing from its inventory. Under this provision, no matter how many times a dealer breaks the law, ATF cannot revoke the dealer's license. HR 5092 also allows dealers who have their licenses revoked to continue operating for 60 days, enabling them to sell more guns even though they have had their license revoked for breaking federal law.

http://schumer.senate.gov/SchumerWebsite/pressroom/record.cfm?id=264057&&year=2006&