By Editorial Board
Capital-Journal
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence issued a report to support the contention 90 percent of guns used in United States crimes could be traced to 5 percent of gun dealers.
To emphasize the point, the Washington, D.C., gun-control advocacy organization released a list of the 50 “most despicable” dealers among 3,000 bad apples in the business. The Kansas business on the roster was Shawnee Gun Shop Inc. Allegedly, 588 guns were traced to the store during a five-year period.
There is a glaring problem with the list touted by the Brady Center. It is horribly outdated. Gun traces involving Shawnee Gun Shop and noted by the Brady Center occurred from 1996 to 2000. The location of the store on Robinson Street in Johnson County is now home to a different entity: Bullet Hole Shooting Range.
The Brady Center can’t legitimately anchor policy advocacy on information so antiquated. It is not remotely fair.
The solution is for Congress and the president to repeal a federal law named for former U.S. Rep. Todd Tiahrt. The Kansas Republican authored the Tiahrt Amendment, which blocks public release of specific federal crime gun data under the Freedom of Information Act. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives performs traces on firearms at request of law enforcement agencies. The information has been beyond reach of anyone other than investigators or prosecutors involved in criminal inquiries since the early 2000s.
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