Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Gun regulations vary widely across the nation. The disunity reflects the political differences among regions and between urban and outlying locations.

That fact makes regional unity on battling illegal gun sales particularly noteworthy. That happened in southwestern Ohio on Thursday when 12 Cincinnati suburbs, including two in Kentucky, joined the Queen City in supporting Mayors Against Illegal Guns. The Cincinnati-area mayors are the first to join as a group.

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The amendment prevents the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from publishing gun-purchasing data that could be used to trace the movement of illegal guns around the nation. The amendment puts limits on police agencies' sharing of trace data and prevents law enforcers from accessing the data outside their jurisdictions.

The amendment, named for Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan., should be thrown out or drastically changed by Congress. Trafficking in illegal weapons is a national scourge, just as is trafficking in drugs. Wider use of the ATF data would assist jurisdictions' efforts to get illegally sold weapons off the streets.

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Combating illegal gun sales requires a coordinated effort by national, state and local governments.