Press Release - Ad Urges DOJ to Reconsider Terrorism/Guns Ruling - Americans for Gun Safety

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December 11, 2001
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Matt Bennett
202-775-0300 x 212

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AGS Releases Ad Urging DOJ To Reconsider Terrorism/Guns Ruling

AGS Radio Ad Targets Decision Overruling FBI
On Use of Gun Records in Terror Investigation

Read the script of the ad

Washington, DC—Washington—Americans for Gun Safety (AGS) today released a radio ad criticizing the Department of Justice for its decision to thwart attempts by the FBI to use the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) database to investigate and prosecute suspected terrorists. The ad will begin running on drive-time radio in Washington on Monday.

"The Justice Department is guilty of not enforcing the nation's gun laws as they pertain to suspected terrorists," said AGS President Jonathan Cowan. "Whether this was a political decision or just a narrow reading of the regulations, it clearly was not in America's best interests. The AGS ad is meant to urge the Justice Department to reconsider its position."

The script of the 60-second radio spot reads as follows:

	(Sound of coffee being poured, newspaper page turns)
	Eileen:	So, Joe, what's in the paper this morning?
	Joe:	A big story on homeland security.
	Eileen:	Well I'm glad they're fixing the airports. And getting tough on suspected terrorists in the U.S.
	(Paper page turns)
	Joe:	But there's something really strange here. It says the FBI wants to look at the records and see if any of the potential terrorists they've arrested in this country violated guns laws. And the Department of Justice won't even let them see the records.
	Eileen:	What in the world . . .
	Joe:	It says that some in Washington don't want the records checked—and the Justice Department is siding with them.
	Eileen:	That's unbelievable. Let me see the paper.
	(Paper sound)
	Joe:	Look one paragraph down. They know that one suspect bought guns at a gun show before September 11th.
	Eileen:	Then why won't they let the FBI check up on the rest? You know, if we're fighting terrorists overseas, why let them arm themselves here? That's crazy.
	Joe:	We're all supporting President Bush in the war against the terrorism.
	(Sound of the coffee cup put down on the table)
	Eileen:	Absolutely, but why in the world should terrorists be able to buy guns here—even at gun shows—and keep it secret?
	Narrator:	Call Congress. Tell them to put handcuffs on the terrorists, not the FBI. Paid for by Americans for Gun Safety Tsunami Fund.

AGS' Cowan continued: "When this war on terrorism began, the President was right to insist that law enforcement and intelligence communities use everything in their power under law to find, interrogate and bring to justice all possible terrorists and those who harbor and assist them. Now, during the most heightened state of security and alert in this nation's history, the Justice Department has denied its own law enforcement officers of one of their most promising sources of information about potentially illegal activity—information that directly pertains to would-be terrorists arming themselves."

Several links between terrorists in the United States and guns have surfaced recently:

	Published reports indicated that before the NICS checks were stopped, the FBI checked only 186 of the names of its detainees (which numbered more than 1,200) and found that two of the 186 had bought guns recently. Plus, 34 guns used in crime were traced back to individuals on the terrorism suspect list.

	A suspected *al Qaeda* member and illegal Pakistani immigrant was convicted on gun charges in Texas last month after illegally buying guns at gun shows.

	Known members of the terrorist groups Hezbollah and the Irish Republican Army have been convicted on weapons charges after buying guns at gun shows in Michigan and Florida, where background checks are not required.

	Senators John McCain (R-AZ) and Mike DeWine (R-OH) sent a letter to their Republican colleagues last week noting these cases of terrorists exploiting the gun show loophole and saying that they plan to attach their bill requiring background checks at gun shows (S.890) to the first appropriate homeland security measure that comes up next year.

Further information about the gun show loophole is available on the AGS website at www.americansforgunsafety.com.

About Americans for Gun Safety

Americans for Gun Safety is a non-profit, non-partisan advocacy organization that supports the rights of individuals to own guns, and seeks better laws and tougher enforcement of existing laws to help keep guns out of the hands of criminals and children.

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