VIA FACSIMILE AND U.S. MAIL
February 19, 2009
President Barack H. Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW
Washington, DC 20500
Re: Removal of Tiahrt Amendments from FY 2010 Budget
Dear President Obama,
On behalf of Legal Community Against Violence (LCAV), I write to thank you for your
support for sensible gun laws generally, and for your opposition to the so-called Tiahrt
Amendments, annual riders attached to U.S. Department of Justice appropriations bills
since 2003. As you know, those Amendments currently: 1) prohibit the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) from releasing gun trace data; 2)
require the destruction of approved gun purchaser records within 24 hours; and 3)
prohibit ATF from requiring gun dealers to submit inventories. LCAV urges you to
remove these dangerous Amendments from the Fiscal Year 2010 Budget.
LCAV is a national law center dedicated to reducing gun violence. Formed in the wake
of an assault weapon massacre at a San Francisco law firm, LCAV provides free legal
assistance to elected officials, government attorneys and activists working to prevent gun
violence. Our web site, www.lcav.org, provides summaries of all federal and state gun
laws, as well as an in-depth discussion of more than 30 firearm-related policies. The site
also includes model laws and other LCAV publications, including the 2008 Edition of
“Regulating Guns in America: An Evaluation and Comparative Analysis of Federal, State
and Selected Local Gun Laws,” a copy of which is enclosed.
The Tiahrt Amendments Significantly Restrict Law Enforcement’s Ability to Investigate
Gun Crimes and Prosecute Unscrupulous Gun Dealers
Restrictions on Crime Gun Trace Data
The Tiahrt Amendments prohibit ATF from disclosing crime gun trace data except in
connection with a specific criminal investigation. As a result, law enforcement agencies
are unable to access aggregated data to examine patterns of gun trafficking or identify
gun dealers linked to large numb