New York City Mayor Attacks Bills That Would Restrict Access to Gun Information

"The only reason to leave information on microfilm is if you want to be certain that no one ever looks at it! It's ridiculous, but clearly that's the intention here"

New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, in an address today to the Congressional Black Caucus, attacked bills in Congress that he said would increase gun violence and restrict law enforcement efforts to curtail illegal gun ownership.

"Today," said Bloomberg, "the House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to take up three bills that would have the perverse effect of making it easier to conduct illegal gun trafficking, while at the same time handcuffing law enforcement officials by restricting access to 'trace data,' which is the information that tells us exactly where and when a gun was sold, and who bought it."

Trace data restrictions, he said, are included in -- H.R. 5005.

"One of the most important lessons our nation learned from 9/11," said Bloomberg, "is how critical it is for law enforcement agencies to share information. And yet one of the bills, H.R. 5005, would prevent -- and even criminalize --- the sharing of trace data.

"H.R. 5005 also prevents the federal government from moving records of gun sales from microfilm to a searchable electronic database," he continued. "In this day and age, when you have computers and cameras in cell phones, the only reason to leave information on microfilm is if you want to be certain that no one ever looks at it! It's ridiculous, but clearly that's the intention here."
KW