PIML 96051301 / Forwarded to Patriot Information Mailing List: [It is a direct violation of the Gun Control Act of 1968 for the Feds to compile national gun registration records. You can bet they will be keeping a copy of these Massachusetts records. This is well worth asking your Congressman to look into.] Date: Sun, 12 May 1996 12:27:53 -0400 From: freematt@coil.com (Matthew Gaylor) Subject: Feds (BATF) computerizing state records Date: Sat, 11 May 1996 14:00:02 -0700 From: "Scott B. Lacey" (by way of jwarren@well.com (Jim Warren)) Subject: Feds computerizing state records Attached is an article from the Boston Globe re. a federal agency (the ATF) "helping" Massachusetts to computerize their firearms registration records. Of course we KNOW that they wouldn't copy these into their own database. I find the description of the ability to scan handwritten records quite interesting. What will they be "helping" with next???? >From the Friday, May 10, 1996 Boston Globe: --- FEDERAL AGENCY HELPS STATE COMPUTERIZE FIREARMS RECORDS --- The federal government stepped in yesterday to help the state computerize records of more than 800,000 gun purchases in Massachusetts, clearing an 11-year backlog that has left police with no quick way to track individuals who might be stockpiling weapons. The state is also five months behind in processing records of permits to carry handguns, own rifles or purchase ammunition. Records of some 31,000 pistol permits and 27,000 Firearm Identification Cards issued have been sitting unfiled in crates and boxes at the Department of Public Safety. The two backlogs, long a source of concern in law enforcement circles, were assailed by Rep. Paul Caron (D-Springfield), House chairman of the joint Public Safety Committee, as a serious safety problem for police officers on the front line. "Many times law enforcement officers are flying blind," Caron said. Caron said that police officers, when serving warrants or responding to domestic violence complaints, need information quickly to let them know if they will face someone who owns a firearm. Stoneham Police Chief Eugene Passaro, chairman of the firearms committee for the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, agreed. "The backlog is very much a concern. Some guy could be out there buying a hundred guns, but we would have no way to know it," said Passaro. Caron is pushing a bill that would hike the fees that gun owners pay for licenses and applications. The extra revenue would be used to computerize and update the state's record-keeping system. "We're supposed to be the computer Mecca of this country, yet we have a government agency still storing valuable information in paper form," Caron said. Public Safety Commissioner Winthrop Farwell, who five months ago took over a department that is woefully behind in computerizing gun sales in Massachusetts, pledged that by Oct.1, he will have eliminated the backlogs. "We will not fall behind again. Everything will be cleared up for a problem that dates back to 1985," Farwell said. This is the problem that Farwell confronted: When a pistol or rifle is sold in Massachusetts, the dealer must send a paper record of the transaction to the Department of Public Safety. But since 1985, not one such transaction has been entered into computers. Instead, the receipts were stuffed into storage boxes. Farwell said his understanding was that the failure to computerize was the result of staff shortages. To tackle the gun registration backlog, late last week Farwell started sending boxes of records to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms headquarters in Washington. Yesterday, workers using equipment designed to scan and enter handwritten information into computers began processing the Massachusetts data at the rate of about 2,000 records every eight minutes, Farwell said. The ATF also has about 14 million federal records to process. The Massachusetts job will cost state taxpayers $70,000. Caron's proposed bill would raise the $2 fee for a Firearms Identification Card to $25. The identification card currently is issued for life. Caron would like to see it renewed every five years, similar to the $25 license to carry a pistol. Michael Yacino, director of the Gun Owners Action League, vowed to fight Caron's legislation. "To be an honest gun owner and citizen, you need a license. But because of the backlogs, we end up being criminals," Yacino said. Farwell said that in part to new computers in his office, he also will be current with FID card registrations and pistol permits by October. **************************************************************************** Subscribe to Freematt's Alerts: Pro-Individual Rights Issues Send a blank message to: freematt@coil.com with the words subscribe FA on the subject line. List is private and moderated (7-20 messages per week) Matthew Gaylor,1933 E. 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