03/20/09 - Roefaro Blasts Federal Gun Restrictions
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Angelo Roefaro, Public Relations
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Roefaro hopes to shoot down federal gun data
restrictions; vows to do his part to stop illegal guns
March 20, 2009- (Utica, NY)- Sometimes national laws make it harder for America's cities to protect the public. Sometimes, it takes a coalition of Mayors; focusing on the one issue everybody else is putting to the wayside to propel real change.
Mayors Against Illegal Guns is a national coalition of 300 mayors working to end gun violence across America. Utica Mayor David Roefaro is just one very involved member, one very outspoken mayor, propelling both change for America and change for New Yorkers.
Today, Roefaro has made public his letter to U.S. House of Representative Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, U. S. Senate Majority Leader, Harry Reid, and local Congressman Michael Arcuri regarding the Tiahrt Amendments.
The Tiahrt Amendments, named after their sponsor, U.S. Representative Todd Tiahrt (R-KS), are provisions attached to federal spending bills that make it harder for law enforcement officers to fully and forcefully pursue criminals who buy and sell illegal guns. The amendments restrict cities, states, and police departments around the country from fully accessing and utilizing Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) gun trace data, data which tracks the movement of illegal guns, including where they are originating from, who purchases them, and how they get trafficked across state lines and into the hands of criminals in communities like Utica.
In his letter, Mayor Roefaro urges Speaker Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Reid, and local Congressman Michael Arcuri to work to reform one of the "worst soft-on-crime laws on the books: The Tiahrt Amendments."
Roefaro explains how these amendments, enacted many miles from Utica, are actually hurting his city. He explained in his letter, "The Tiahrt amendments have hindered the City of Utica directly. Since I took office, one of my initiatives has been ridding this city of illegal guns. However, my police department can only do so much. The City of Utica has no access to gun trace data, and we have no capability to work with other Upstate, New York cities in constructing crime mapping that would decipher our state's gun trafficking routes. In essence, these amendments are hurting my citizens. These amendments are stopping law enforcement from doing its job."
Roefaro sent the letter as the Obama Administration and Congress begin a new appropriations process, which will include determining the budget for the Department of Justice, putting the amendments back on the discussion table.
According to Mayors Against Illegal Guns data, the Tiahrt Amendments include some very dangerous flaws:
- State and local authorities are still restricted from having full access to aggregated trace data: The Tiahrt Amendments force gun trace data requests to be made in connection with individual criminal investigations or prosecutions, blocking full access to the aggregate data that law enforcement need to examine gun trafficking patterns and make key connections between separate cases. Furthermore, state and local governments are prohibited from seeing trace data or using it in administrative license reviews.
- NICS background check records are still destroyed within 24 hours: The Tiahrt Amendments require the Justice Department to destroy the record of a buyer whose NICS background check was approved within 24 hours. This makes it harder to catch law-breaking gun dealers who falsify their records, and it makes it more difficult to identify and track straw purchasers who buy guns on behalf of criminals who wouldn't be able to pass a background check.
- ATF still does not have the power to require dealer inventory checks to detect lost and stolen guns: While dealers must notify ATF if they discover that guns from their inventories have been lost or stolen, the Tiahrt Amendments prevent ATF from requiring gun dealers to conduct regular physical inventory checks to detect losses and thefts. An ATF report released in 2008 showed that more than 30,000 guns had been lost or stolen from gun dealer inventories.
Roefaro, a longtime supporter of quelling illegal guns in Utica explained how some of his power as Mayor is severely disabled by these national amendments. "I ran for Mayor on the platform of public safety. Since then, crime in the City of Utica has decreased dramatically, and we've actually taken one illegal gun off the streets every week I have been in office, but it would be a lie to tell Uticans I can't do more, because with the right tools, I can do a lot more," the Mayor said.
Roefaro went on to explain that during a confidential study involving the Utica Police Department and Roefaro's mission to stop illegal guns from entering Utica, the question of utilizing ATF trace-data came up. "Well, we wanted to address national gun trafficking trends locally, but we hit a roadblock- the ATF's policy as pursuant to the Tiahrt Amendments," Roefaro said. "They have made it so hard for all cities to crack down on illegal guns. I'd go so far as to say, the amendments are costing us lives."
There's no time table as to when the amendments will be discussed, but that doesn't matter to Roefaro. "As a Mayor, I can't sit back, cross my fingers, and hope they change these laws. As small as Utica is, we've got to get vocal on this issue. "I will continue to work with Mayors Against Illegal Guns to enact this much needed reform."
The coalition has prepared a similar letter, one Roefaro used as the basis for his, one he will also sign as one of their 300 members.
As for the future of illegal guns in Utica, Roefaro said, "Washington has forced a lot of cities to get creative; Utica will just have to be next."
