Bush Signs Bill Improving Gun Background Checks
By Monisha Bansal
CNSNews.com Staff Writer
January 09, 2008

(CNSNews.com) - President George W. Bush signed the NICS (National Instant Check System) Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 late Tuesday, a decision that was welcomed by most gun control advocates and Second Amendment groups alike.

"President Bush did the right thing by signing this bill, which strengthens our gun laws and makes it harder for dangerous people to arm themselves," said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, in a statement. "This will help make our nation safer."

"The Virginia Tech killer was able to arm himself because the court order that should have blocked his gun purchases was not entered in the Brady background check system," he added. "This new law will help ensure that records like that don't fall through the cracks."

Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.) introduced the bill, which amends the Brady Law, in June.

"This important legislation will close the wide gaps in our nation's firearm background check system to ensure violent criminals and the mentally ill no longer slip through the cracks and gain access to dangerous weapons," she said in a statement on her Web site.

According to Newsday, McCarthy also announced the next step in her anti-gun crusade on Tuesday: She now aims to close the so-called "gun show loophole" that allows private, individual sales of firearms without background checks, Newsday reported.

On her Web site, McCarthy said she'll also continue to lead the fight in Congress to "provide our nation's law enforcement with the firearm tracing data necessary to solve gun crimes," and she wants to prevent those on a terrorist watch list from being able to buy guns.

Second Amendment groups also supported the NICS Improvement bill -- after their concerns about veterans were addressed.

The final bill includes the automatic restoration of gun purchasing rights for veterans who were diagnosed with mental problems as part of the application process for disability benefits. NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre said 80,000 veterans were placed into the background check system by the Clinton administration.

"Because of some good work by some members of the Senate, we did get some modifications to the bill which made it palatable," said Mark Taff, executive director for the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

"We're happy that finally under federal law, veterans and others who have firearms [disqualifications] finally have a mechanism to have their rights restored," Taff told Cybercast News Service. "The bill certainly wasn't perfect, but it certainly moves a step in the right direction of restoring people's individual firearms rights."

"They put their lives on the line to defend this country and at least now they are going to have the rights everyone else does in this country," he said. "It finally allows veterans to use the civil court system to have their rights restored if the VA (Veterans Administration) fails to act on their claims."

The National Rifle Association has also been a supporter of the bill, noting that "the National Rifle Association has always supported including the records of individuals adjudicated mentally defective into the National Instant Background Check System. We believe that the NICS should serve the intent of Congress, which is to prohibit the sale of firearms to criminals and other prohibited persons, such as adjudicated mental defectives."

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