November 2, 2006

Most gun dealers are conscientious, legitimate businesspeople who try to prevent illegal buyers, such as convicted felons, wife-beaters and the underaged, from walking out of their store with a pistol in their pocket. But the relatively few bad guys among them can do a lot of damage. 

Nationwide, almost 60 percent of the traceable guns used in crimes are sold by barely 1 percent of licensed gun dealers. Yet for some reason, the National Rifle Association is spending enormous energy trying to protect that tiny minority of corrupt dealers, spearheading two pieces of legislation in Congress that would hamstring the prosecution of rogue dealers. 

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The mayors, including Atlanta's Shirley Franklin, want stronger pursuit and prosecution of the few irresponsible gun dealers who knowingly sell guns to straw purchasers. The mayors also oppose any federal restriction on the power of their police forces to access, use and share gun trace data, and they want the handcuffs taken off the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives when it comes to illegal gun trafficking. 

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