SJR 18: Urging the President of the United States and the Congress to act to ensure that federal agencies do not retain records relating to lawful purchase or ownership of firearms gathered through the Brady Handgun Bill instant check system.
00 SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 18 01 Urging the President of the United States and the Congress to act to ensure that federal 02 agencies do not retain records relating to lawful purchase or ownership of firearms 03 gathered through the Brady Handgun Bill instant check system. 04 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 05 WHEREAS the Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States protects 06 the right of all citizens to keep and bear arms; and 07 WHEREAS art. I, sec. 19, Constitution of the State of Alaska, clarifies that the right 08 to keep and bear arms is an individual right in Alaska; and 09 WHEREAS the intent of H.R. 1025, known as the Brady Handgun Bill, when passed 10 by the Congress was to create an instant criminal background check system that kept records 11 only on individuals who are prohibited from lawfully owning firearms; and 12 WHEREAS the Brady Handgun Bill specifically states that, when a call to the instant 13 check system reveals that a person may lawfully own firearms, "the system shall . . . destroy 14 all records of the system with respect to the call (other than the identifying number and the 15 date the number was assigned) and all records of the system relating to the person or the
01 transfer." (18 U.S.C. 922(t)(2)(C)); and 02 WHEREAS the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has indicated an intent to keep 03 records gathered through the Brady Handgun Bill instant check system regarding lawful 04 owners of firearms in its data banks for "audit purposes"; and 05 WHEREAS the actions of the FBI are contrary to both the letter and the spirit of the 06 Brady Handgun Bill and further erode the constitutional right of Alaskans to keep and bear 07 arms; 08 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully urges the President 09 of the United States to prevent federal agencies from maintaining information regarding 10 lawful owners of firearms in violation of the Brady Handgun Bill; and be it 11 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature respectfully urges the 12 Congress to make any necessary statutory changes to prevent federal agencies from 13 maintaining information regarding the lawful possession of firearms. 14 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable George W. Bush, President 15 of the United States; the Honorable Richard B. Cheney, Vice-President of the United States 16 and President of the U.S. Senate; Louis Freeh, Director of the Federal Bureau of 17 Investigation; the Honorable Trent Lott, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable J. 18 Dennis Hastert, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; and to the Honorable Ted 19 Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, 20 U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress.