Obama Agencies (FBI, BATF) Get Access to Citizen Gun Records Under Patriot Act

Republican Senator Jim DeMint and Representative Jeff Duncan took votes yesterday to limit the power of federal government snooping under the Patriot Act. The rest of the South Carolina Republican delegation voted to allow ongoing spying operation.

The Patriot Act allows the FBI to issue National Security Letters to conduct warrantless searches of citizen medical, banking, Internet, and library records. There is no judicial oversight, little transparency or Congressional oversight, and a history of abuse by the FBI. Read more about National Security Letters here.

In the Senate, Rand Paul held up a vote for five days until he was able to bring two amendments to the floor of the Senate. One that never made it to the floor would have repealed the NSL power and required the FBI to obtain a warrant as is required by the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution. The more interesting amendment, however, was his Amendment 363 to protect gun owner records from FBI snoops. The Senate voted to table the amendment by a large margin.

Paul’s gun amendment would state in law that no portion of the PATRIOT Act can be used to access any firearms records held by licensed gun dealers. According to Gun Owners of America, who says they worked with the senator on drafting the amendment, it’s designed to keep the government from accessing 4473 forms, which are the firearm transaction records that all people who buy guns in the U.S. from a licensed dealer must fill out. Personal information on the forms include name, address, date of birth, photograph, and make/model/serial numbers of the gun that was purchased. The operational text of Paul's simple amendment provided as follows:

Nothing in the USA PATRIOT Act shall authorize the investigation or procurement of firearms records which is not authorized under chapter 44 of title 18, United States Code.

Thomas Congressional Record

The Gun Owners of America alert described the danger of NOT passing the Paul Amendment:

"Rand Paul’s amendment would exempt 4473’s (the form all purchasers fill out when they buy a firearm from a licensed dealer) and other gun records from the blanket information demands which Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) can make under the 9/11 legislation.

Without Paul’s exemption, it is possible that the BATFE could go to a secret (FISA) court, and, in a one-party (ex parte) proceeding, obtain an order to produce every 4473 in the country, ostensibly because a “terrorism investigation” requires it.

Gun Owners of America Alert. Considering the radical anti-gun Obama Administration, this is not an idle threat to our liberties.

Senator Lindsey Graham voted the wrong way supporting a motion to "table" Senator Paul's amendment. The Senate then passed the Patriot Act extension. Only Jim DeMint, Jeff Duncan, and James Clyburn (D) took the proper votes from the South Carolina delegation against the unconstitutional Patriot Act law.