Warner, we've been discussing the deeply anti-gun bias on this issue on the "Cam & Company" show at NRANews.com. This hasn't been much of an issue outside the newspapers, but the amendment in question is sponsored by Rep. Todd Tiahrt of Kansas, and is routinely described in inaccurate liberal terms as denying information to cops. David Kopel at the Volokh Conspiracy explained:

The amendment, which has been a BATFE appropriations rider since 2004, protects the privacy of law-abiding gun owners by restricting disclosure to third parties of various federal records of lawful gun purchases, by enforcing a prior federal law requiring the prompt destruction of National Instant Check System records on lawful purchases, and by forbidding the creation of a computerized federal gun-owner registry. The amendment also partially limits the disclosure of information from federal gun traces--which Chicago Mayor Daley and other politicians have sought, in order to support their lawsuits against gun manufacturers. More detailed information is available from a 2004 article I wrote for National Review Online.

The gun control lobby, with New York City Mayor Bloomberg as the point man, are seeking to eliminate the Tiahrt Amendment entirely, but their public campaign has said almost nothing about the most of the provisions of the amendment. (Even though those provisions are contrary to the lobbies' support for comprehensive gun-owner registration.) Instead, they claim that the trace provisions interfere with local law enforcement. Notably, Kansas Rep. Tiahrt offered to negotiate technical modifications of the trace language, to the extent necessary to address legitimate law enforcement (as opposed to lawsuit) needs, but Mayor Bloomberg broke off the negotiations.

The wonderfully informed NYT , with their informed, intelligent debate, conveniently neglects to mention that Chuck Canterbury, National President of the Fraternal Order of Police and Michael Sullivan, Acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, BOTH clearly and succinctly refute all claims that there is any difficulty in obtaining firearm trace data for legitimate criminal investigations. The Tiahrt amendment prohibits NON-law enforcement requests for such data - NON-law enforcement requests such as those of big-city mayors trolling for ammo for their frivolous law suits, which, BTW, have been banned by federal law yet in some cases are still proceeding despite their inherent illegality. Indeed, Bloomberg, assisted by such intellectual media giants as the NYT, outright LIE to promote thier agenda. Bloomberg came right out and stated that "Hard as it is to believe, right now federal law prevents our police officers from looking at all the data on guns used in crimes in our region. When and where were they bought - and by whom. These are questions that we can't ask" - [Newsweek, April 30 2007] This is an outright lie. Bloomberg knows it, Newsweek knows it, the rest of the media knows it, the FOP and ATF certainly know it. The only ones who don't know it are the average citizens under the thumb of Bloomberg and his cronies (another convenient ommision is that Bloomberg's "coalition of mayors" has been steadlity losing membership as his radicalism becomes more pronounced and some media outlets have begun refusing to promote his propaganda). Bloomberg also went on to label the Fraternal Order of Police a "Fringe Organization", the instant they contradicted his lies (I haven't heard anything about what he called the BATFE after they called him out).

Canterbury, of the FOP, went on to clarify that "investigations" such as those conducted by Bloomberg (at taxpayer expense) are of dubious legality, and have directly or indirectly interfered with legitimate criminal investigations, compromising the investigations and potentially placing law enforcement officer's lives at risk. He specifically cited four cases that were compromised and another fourteen that were put at risk. And most of Bloomberg's "investigations" were well outside his legal jurisdiction, most outside of his entire state.

Sullivan clearly states that the ATF routinely shares trace data with state and local law enforcement in support of investigations within their respective jurisdictions. He goes on to again clearly say that neither congressional language or ATF rules prohibit the sharing of trace data with law enforcement conducting criminal investigations, or place any restrictions on the sharing of trace data with other jurisdictions once it is in the hands of state or local law enforcement.

Let's be clear here. Trace data is exactly what it seems - following a firearm from the manufacturer to the gun's purchaser, and all subsequent documented transfers. Trace data is not exclusively a criminal matter going back through the paper trail to the manufacturer. A gun, legally manufactured, purchased, and transferred to subsequent owners, which then is identified with a crime, does not retrace blame to the original owner or the manufacturer. The gun could have been stolen or lost and wound up in the hands of a criminal. The trace can often show the reported theft, therefore absolving the owner of blame for illegally transferring the weapon, and providing important investigative information on the gun. 

There is absolutely no constructive, legitimate reason for this data to be released to politicians, except for the potential legal proceedings against people not responsible for the criminal misuse of the gun. Mayors do not run police investigations, do not arrest and prosecute those suspected of committing a crime, and do not have any need whatsoever for firearm trace data. The Tiahrt Amendment prohibits them from obtaining law enforcement sensitive date to which they have no legitimate or legal need to access. The Tiahrt Amendment does not, and never has, limited law enforcement access to trace date in any way.

The Closed Mind Erects Strong Barriers

Nope, no surprise here.  Card-carring member of said "warpped" organization!