Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 01:58:03 -0500 From: alerts@gatekeeper.nra.org (NRA Alerts) To: firearms-alert@shell.portal.com Subject: INFO: Letter from Tanya Metaksa to Secretary of Treasury in re BATF February 22, 1995 The Honorable Robert E. Rubin Secretary, Department of the Treasury 1500 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Room 3300 Washington, D.C. 20220 Dear Mr. Secretary: This letter is to direct your attention to an unauthorized practice by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms which requires immediate action. On February 15, 1995, at a hearing of the House Appropriation Subcommittee on Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government, officials from Treasury and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (BATF) indicated that the records of firearms transactions by out-of-business dealers are being entered into a centralized registration system under the control of BATF. This is clearly antithetical to the letter and the spirit of existing law. The centralization of records of firearms purchases by law- abiding Americans is an issue which goes to the very heart of a free society. There is no purpose served by creating such a federal data bank that outweighs the firearms ownership and privacy rights retained by the people. We ask your assistance in bringing an immediate end to this activity, and in purging all records already incorporated into these systems. Congress has already spoken on this subject. Over the last three decades, the subject of allowing a compilation of the names of those exercising their Second Amendment rights through the purchase of firearms into a centralized system under the control of the Federal government has been debated on numerous occasions. Each time, Congress has clearly and consistently rejected registration proposals. During the Carter years, Congress even suppressed BATF's registration programs by reducing Treasury's annual appropriation by the amount of funds slated for this purpose. To preclude further action of this sort, a rider has been included in every subsequent Treasury appropriation bill. The language currently in the Treasury appropriations bill proscribes the following: "Provided further, That no funds appropriated herein shall be available for salaries or administrative expenses in connection with consolidating or centralizing, within the Department of Treasury, the records, or any portion thereof, of acquisition and disposition of firearms maintained by Federal firearms licensees." Furthermore, the Firearms Owners' Protection Act, signed into law in 1986, specifically forbids registration of firearms records at 18 U.S.C.  926: "No such rule or regulation prescribed after the date of the enactment of the Firearms Owners' Protection Act may require that records required to be maintained under this chapter or any portion of the contents of such records, be recorded at or transferred to a facility owned, managed, or controlled by the United States or any State or any political subdivision thereof, nor that any system of registration of firearms, firearms owners, or firearms transactions or dispositions be established." The registration of law abiding citizens' firearms has historically been a precursor to even more onerous activities, usually beginning with the harassment of private citizens, moving on to registration freezes, and ultimately ending with the confiscation of firearms from private citizens. It is from this historical perspective that we view the issue of firearms registration. Therefore, we urge you to end this assault on the rights of the American people. In the event remedial action is not taken by your Department, we will exercise all of our options to prevent the establishment of a registration system, including recourse to the courts to seek injunctive and declaratory relief against BATF's actions. The recent voiding of a portion of the federal waiting period statute by several federal courts shows that judges have proved themselves willing to strike down federal firearms laws. I look forward to your reply and cooperation on this matter. Sincerely, Tanya K. Metaksa Executive Director -- This information is presented as a service to the Internet community by the NRA/ILA. Many files are available via anonymous ftp from ftp.nra.org, via WWW at http://www.nra.org, via gopher at gopher.nra.org, and via WAIS at wais.nra.org Be sure to subscribe to the NRA mailing lists. Send the word help as the body of a message to listproc@NRA.org Information can also be obtained by connecting to the NRA-ILA GUN-TALK BBS at (703) 934-2121.