Tiahrt helps the Gun lobby

Usually when a lone gunman shoots up a school killing lots of people, the locals don't want pro-gun nuts coming around and trying to make an issue of gun rights while people are still burying their dead. But National Riffle Association and others do and of course our own idiot Kansas Rep. Todd Tiahrt has gotten into the mess arguing against keeping tabs on who buys guns. The NRA would be proud
For Kans. Rep. Todd Tiahrt, it's the wild west and may the best gun win. There has been the argument that if the students had guns they could have ended this early. Well, most are too young to buy them and those who aren't may have just snuck out the window with the rest of the students rather than face a hallway of bullets coming from a mad man. But Don't Tell Tiahrt that. He's busy protecting his gun lobbyist interest.

In The Wichita Eagle Saturday:
"Debate over sharing gun data turns a little testy
BY DAVID GOLDSTEIN
Eagle Washington bureau
WASHINGTON - Rep. Todd Tiahrt of Kansas and Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City are waging a gunfight.

It's not quite loaded pistols at 20 paces; more like political sniping via long distance.

Their feud: an amendment that Tiahrt wrote in 2003 that puts strict limits on how broadly the government can share gun tracing data. The data identifies the original dealer and buyer of a weapon used in a crime.

Tiahrt and others say the restrictions are necessary because disclosure could reveal names of undercover officers and informants, or tip off targets involved in investigations related to those weapons.

Bloomberg and more than 200 other mayors counter that the restrictions handcuff their efforts against violent crime where illegal guns are involved because they can't trace their source.

"That's why trace data is so important in the post 9-11 era," said John Feinblatt, Bloomberg's criminal justice coordinator. "Why wouldn't you let cops connect the dots?"

The tone of their debate has grown testy. Now Tiahrt wonders about the "motive" behind Bloomberg's strong stand beyond just getting "guns off the street."

And Feinblatt questions who Tiahrt is "trying to protect" by backing a rule that appears to shield illegal gun dealers from exposure."


To the gun nuts the answer is always give people more guns and the bad guys will get shot. How far do we take this? Do you give first graders guns so they can shoot trouble makers in the school yard?