Ashcroft Tightens Gun Checks but Limits Use of Data

Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft moved Wednesday to close gaps that have allowed untold numbers of illegal residents to buy guns, but he stood firm in his opposition to a potentially powerful tool: allowing the FBI to determine if terrorist suspects have purchased weapons.

Ashcroft vowed to shore up a problem-plagued system for checking gun purchases that has allowed illegal residents nationwide to purchase guns from licensed dealers, even though such purchases are banned by federal law.

As part of a broader crackdown on immigration in the wake of the Sept. 11 hijackings, Ashcroft ordered federal agents to begin more vigorous background checks on immigrants to determine if they are authorized to buy a gun. And he took steps to promote more information sharing between federal and state agencies as part of the gun check system.

Ashcroft’s plan drew mixed reviews from members of Congress and activists involved in the gun control debate.

The National Rifle Assn. and even some groups favoring gun control applauded the toughened measures as an important way to keep guns out of the hands of illegal residents, but others saw it as window dressing that does not go nearly far enough.

Particularly vexing to Ashcroft’s critics was his refusal to allow the FBI to use its nationwide database on gun purchases to do background checks on criminal suspects who may have already purchased guns.

The FBI sought in October to do a search of gun buyers in the database, known as the National Instant Check System, and cross-check it against the names of about 1,200 people detained after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to determine whether any had bought guns.

But Ashcroft, a staunch defender of gun rights, rejected the request because he believes the 1994 Brady Act, which authorized advance background checks on people seeking to buy guns, does not allow the database to be used for such investigative purposes.

Ashcroft’s stance infuriated Democrats in Congress last year, who challenged Ashcroft’s interpretation of the law and accused him of allowing his strong views on the 2nd Amendment to “handcuff” the FBI’s terrorism probe. A measure is pending in the Senate that would specifically authorize the FBI to check whether criminal suspects have bought guns.

But Ashcroft showed no willingness Wednesday to back down.

Even as he unveiled the Justice Department’s gun measures, he told reporters that “we believe that the utilization of purchase records for purposes other than the auditing of the system is prohibited by the Brady law. . . . And for us to contravene that would be inappropriate. This department considers living within the limits of the law as one of its primary responsibilities.”

Democrats in Congress said they were mystified by Ashcroft’s position in light of the vast expansion of law enforcement tools that the Justice Department sought, and largely won, from Congress after Sept. 11.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) said Wednesday that “it makes no sense to deny these records to the FBI.”

A senior Democratic aide in the Senate, who asked not to be identified, complained that “there’s a double standard here. The biggest concern we have is the hypocrisy of [Ashcroft] saying ‘the current law doesn’t allow me to do that’ after sending us a million proposals” after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The Justice Department measures come a week after the Treasury Department’s Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms put forth its own plan for restricting gun purchases to legal immigrants. The ATF is banning many purchases of guns by “non-immigrant aliens,” such as visitors in the country on student visas, and it is requiring foreigners who bring firearms and ammunition into the United States to get permits in many instances.

Ashcroft’s plan, expanding on the ATF’s steps, will probably mean background checks on as many as 50,000 potential gun buyers a month who may be in the country illegally, Justice Department officials said. But officials acknowledge that they don’t have a firm handle on the number of illegal residents who are regularly able to buy guns from licensed dealers.

NRA officials praised the steps that Ashcroft took Wednesday, particularly his emphasis on funding states’ efforts to update and automate their criminal history files in order to improve the accuracy and efficiency of the background check system.

“The whole integrity of the [gun] database depends on its accuracy, so we think this is a very positive move,” said NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam.

Americans for Gun Safety, a nonprofit advocacy group that released a report in January on how easy it is for criminals to get guns under the chaotic background check system, also applauded the steps announced by Ashcroft.

“What he’s doing is fixing a flaw in the system,” said Matt Bennett, a spokesman for the group. “There was a serious flaw, and this is really going to help.”

But Mathew S. Nosanchuk, legislative counsel for the Violence Policy Center, a liberal gun-control group in Washington, said Ashcroft’s plan “doesn’t begin to address the underlying problems here.”

Illegal residents will still be able to slip through the cracks by lying about their status and providing fraudulent documentation, he said, and the FBI will still be unable to check the backgrounds of criminal suspects after they have already purchased guns.

Ashcroft, he said, “has this ‘here today, gone tomorrow’ approach to enforcing the Brady law: Get the background check done as quickly as possible, and if someone slips through the system and the system fails to identify them, it’s tough luck for public safety.”