00                      HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 17 am                                                                   
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; Robert S. Mueller, III, Director of the Federal Bureau of                             
17 Investigation; the Honorable Tom Daschle, Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable                             
18 J. 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.