textfiles/politics/GUNS/bradyq&a.txt

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BRADY BILL Q&A
1. The Brady Bill has a 7-day waiting period.
FALSE. The 7-day waiting period is not a waiting period at all, but
a permit-to-purchase law. Under the Brady Bill, you would
not be allowed to purchase a firearm without first obtaining
permission from the police department. In municipalities
that have implemented similar laws, an anti-gun police chief
can refuse to grant law-abiding citizens a permit to purchase
with total impunity. In short, the Brady Bill turns your
right to own a firearm into a priveledge to be granted or
withheld by local police departments. Your gun dealer cannot
sell a firearm until he receives "written verification" from
the chief law enforcement officer.
2. A 7-day waiting period would have stopped John Hinkley from buying
a handgun.
FALSE. The fact of the matter is that John Hinkley, the man who
tried to assassinate President Reagan and who shot and
severly injured the President's Press Secretary Jim Brady,
had actually purchased two of the guns he was assembling for
his assassination attempt in California-a state with a 14-day
waiting period.
3. The Brady Bill is a reasonable compromise with which we can all live.
FALSE. Brady is not the "compromise" that Handgun Control claims it
is. In fact, it is the cornerstone of a major campaign to
restrict gun ownership in America to police, the armed forces
and licensed security guards and shooting ranges. The law-
abiding citizen would not be allowed to own a firearm under
Handgun Control's agenda for America.
4. Law enforcement professionals agree that 7 days is enough time to
conduct an adequate background check.
False. Dick Thornburg, Attorney General of the United States, has
testified that the minimum time necessary to conduct an
effective background check is 30 days, which he felt was an
unreasonable time for a citizen to have to wait to purchase
a firearm.
5. Brady would lead to national gun registration.
TRUE. Federal agencies such as BATF have been waiting for a
mechanism that could lead to a centralized registration list
of all gun owners. The Brady Bill could provide them with
that mechanism. Currently, gun registrations are maintained
at the dealer from whom the firearm was purchased.
6. Brady would not interfere with the law-abiding citizen's right to
purchase a firearm.
FALSE. Since most criminals buy their guns "on the street" from
other criminals, there is virtually no chance that the
Brady Bill will interfere with the criminal's ability to
obtain a firearm. The only people that will be disadvantaged
by Brady will be the law-abiding citizen. Under Brady, you
and I will have no gun rights.
7. The proposed 7-day waiting period would allow the police to screen
out insane people and people convicted of crimes.
FALSE. Current privacy laws affecting doctor-patient relations
would prevent Brady from cross-referencing gun permits with
medical reports. Current federal criminal records maintained
for background checks list people charged with a crime as
opposed to people convicted of a crime. This means that
people charged but later judged innocent of a crime would be
refused permission to purchase a firearm.
Q&A by:
Gun Owners of America
8001 Forbes Place
Suite 102
Springfield, VA 22151
(703) 321-8585