02/22/2000 05:10 PM House WTR

HJR 35-REPEAL BRADY ACT                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
Number 0080                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR BARNES announced  that the first order of  business would be                                                              
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION No. 35, "Relating  to requesting the United                                                              
States Congress to repeal the Brady Handgun Protection Act."                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
RYNNIEVA  MOSS,   Legislative  Aide  to  Representative   John  B.                                                              
Coghill,   Alaska  State   Legislature,   presented  the   sponsor                                                              
statement of Representative  Coghill, prime sponsor of  HJR 35, on                                                              
his behalf.  Ms. Moss read the following:                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
     In  reading the  direction of  congressional actions  on                                                                   
     gun control,  it appears that  Congress has given  up on                                                                   
     the   Second   Amendment.      Congress   is   reviewing                                                                   
     legislation that would disallow  civil suits against gun                                                                   
     manufacturers and disallow retention  of criminal search                                                                   
     records of law-abiding citizens.                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
     But Congress is doing too little  to restore the ability                                                                   
     of   individuals  to   protect   themselves  and   their                                                                   
     families.   The federal  government regulates the  sales                                                                   
     of  guns through  the Bureau  of  Alcohol, Tobacco,  and                                                                   
     Firearms.     There  is  a  burdensome   requirement  of                                                                   
     licensing  for   gun  dealers  that  includes   criminal                                                                   
     background  checks  and  reporting   serial  numbers  of                                                                   
     firearms sold.                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
     I  checked  with  Del  Smith,   deputy  commissioner  of                                                                   
     [Department   of]  Public  Safety,   and  they   do  not                                                                   
     participate in  any of the  crime checks.   The question                                                                   
     has to be,  Who does the Brady Act protect?   We already                                                                   
     know that illegal weapons are  the prized commodity that                                                                   
     comes with  burglary and sometimes  death.  We have seen                                                                   
     from  the Swiss  practice of  requiring  citizens to  be                                                                   
     armed  that   crime  is  reduced,  yet  we   persist  in                                                                   
     broadening the  Brady Act that was created  to establish                                                                   
     a criminal check and gun registry into a gun-ban law.                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
     The  fact of the  matter is  that criminals  do not  buy                                                                   
     firearms  through  legal means,  and  when criminals  do                                                                   
     attempt  to purchase  firearms,  contrary  to the  Brady                                                                   
     Act, the law is not enforced  by this administration and                                                                   
     criminals  are  not  prosecuted.   But  we  continue  to                                                                   
     intimidate   law-abiding  citizens   and  invade   their                                                                   
     privacy.                                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
     If  the Brady  Act is  not enforced,  then  there is  no                                                                   
     compelling   interest  on  the   part  of  the   federal                                                                   
     government   to  invade  the   privacy  of   law-abiding                                                                   
     citizens, restrict  their ability to protect  themselves                                                                   
     and  their  families  against   criminals  left  on  the                                                                   
     streets,  or, for  that matter, limit  their ability  to                                                                   
     provide food for their families.                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
Number 0307                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  JOULE  asked Ms.  Moss  if she  knew  of any  law-                                                              
abiding  citizens who  had been denied  [the right  to purchase  a                                                              
gun] once that person went through  the background check.  He said                                                              
he could understand its [the procedure's]  being a bit cumbersome,                                                              
but he wondered if anybody had been denied.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
MS. MOSS  said she did  not have an  answer to that  question, and                                                              
that she  suspected one  would have  to look  at the direction  in                                                              
which the Brady  Act has gone, broadening the powers  of the Brady                                                              
Act, which  restrict what guns can  be purchased.  She  said there                                                              
is a  long list  of guns  that cannot  be purchased  anymore.   In                                                              
fact, a lot  of the hunting  rifles used in Alaska  are considered                                                              
semi-automatic weapons.  One also  has to look at the trend toward                                                              
people  who  have  been  convicted   of  a  misdemeanor,  domestic                                                              
violence; they are  no longer qualified to purchase  guns.  If she                                                              
had to give an opinion [as to whether  any law-abiding citizen had                                                              
been denied  the right  to purchase  a gun],  the answer  would be                                                              
yes.                                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR BARNES  asked if  Representative Croft  had not sponsored  a                                                              
similar measure that the committee already had passed.                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
MS. MOSS said yes, the similar bill  was House Joint Resolution 9,                                                              
"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."   It is now                                                              
in the  Senate State Affairs Committee.   Ms. Moss  explained that                                                              
House Joint Resolution 9 encouraged  Congress to enact legislation                                                              
that  would prevent  the  retention of  crime  check [reports]  on                                                              
citizens that said those citizens had no criminal records.                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR BARNES asked if House Joint  Resolution 9 specifically dealt                                                              
with the Brady Act.                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
MS. MOSS confirmed that it did.                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  MASEK  made  a  motion  to  move  HJR  35  out  of                                                              
committee  with individual  recommendations  and the  accompanying                                                              
fiscal notes.  There  being no objection, HJR 35  was moved out of                                                              
the  House Special  Committee  on  World Trade  and  State/Federal                                                              
Relations.