By Boston Herald editorial staff

Friday, April 20, 2007

...

The amendment, named for its author, Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.), is aimed at restricting the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms from sharing any trace data it collects on guns with state or local law enforcement or even publishing reports on its own data or its analysis of the flow of guns used in crimes.

Most folks in this part of the country, especially in this nation's cities, would think that's just nuts. And it is. But to those in the pocket of the National Rifle Association - and that includes Rep. Tiahrt and any number of his congressional colleagues - it apparently makes some kind of sense. NRA honchos are fond of saying that they only want to protect the rights of good, law-abiding citizens. Well, the Tiahrt Amendment - usually attached to some must-pass appropriations bill - does just the opposite. It protects those who would traffic in illegal weapons and those who would use them in the commission of crimes.

And each year since 2003 when the first version of the Tiahrt Amendment passed, it has gotten ever wider ranging. What started out as simply limiting the ATF's ability to respond to freedom of information requests, not only now ties the hands of ATF, but prevents other law enforcement agencies from sharing gun trace data even with each other.

Now is the time to stop this insanity...

When Boston needed help cracking down on the spate of shootings that plagued some neighborhoods of this city, members of the ATF were there, working side by side with Boston police. The information they gather on the guns they round up ought to be there too. Any effort to prohibit that is simply indefensible.