April 25th 2007

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By the best estimate, 1% - that's right, just 1% - of gun shops are the points of origin for 60% of the weapons that police have seized at crime scenes. They are merchants of death.

Wouldn't it be nice to know who they are? Wouldn't it make sense to pressure them into selling only to legit purchasers, not traffickers or straw-man buyers? Wouldn't any member of Congress want to save lives by empowering authorities to choke the flow of illegal handguns?

No. As the prime case in point, we bring you Rep. Todd Tiahrt, a Kansas Republican who year after year sponsors a pernicious piece of lawmaking called the Tiahrt Amendment. It bars the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives from sharing vital information with local law enforcement authorities, including the NYPD.

Via serial numbers, ATF can trace gun manufacturers and sellers. If a weapon is recovered at a crime scene in New York, the ATF will, if asked, provide police here with its chain of ownership. But invoking the Tiahrt Amendment, ATF won't give cops in one jurisdiction information on guns seized in another. For example, it will not give Brooklyn homicide detectives data on a gun seized in Jersey City.

Just as insanely, Tiahrt's amendment forbids ATF from giving local authorities stats on which shops have sold the most weapons used in crimes.

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