Statement of Administration Policy: H.R. 7 - Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act

(House Rules)
(Feighan (D) Ohio and 148 others)

The President believes that the problem of violent crime must be met by the enactment of the strong measures embodied in his comprehensive Violent Crime Control Act of 1991. While the President supports effective measures to identify felons attempting to purchase firearms, he is opposed to partial solutions to the problem of violent crime.

If the Congress acts favorably on the President's comprehensive crime bill, the President will accept, as part of that bill, appropriate measures to identify felons attempting to purchase handguns. Whatever Congress ultimately adopts on this subject, however, must be presented to the President as part of, or together with, his crime bill. The President's senior advisers will recommend that he veto any bill relating to the identification of felons attempting to purchase handguns, including both the Brady bill and the Staggers amendment, that is not part of legislation consistent with his Comprehensive Violent Crime Control proposal.

The Administration considers a point-of-purchase system as the best way to identify felons buying firearms. The type of background check conducted by a law enforcement official in a point-of-purchase system or during a seven-day waiting period is nearly the same. The success of both identification systems depends heavily upon computerized data relating to convicted felons. Consequently, States that have established point-of- purchase identification systems should be excluded from the procedures proposed in H.R. 7. (Such an exclusion appears to be intended by the bill, but the language may not accomplish this purpose.) Moreover, this bill should contain incentives for the States to improve the quality of their criminal history records since these records are the foundation upon which the successful identification of felons is dependent.

With regard to the Staggers Amendment, the Administration notes that, unless it is modified, it would require the establishment of a point-of-purchase system that is different from the system currently being established by the Attorney General pursuant to the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1988. The Staggers amendment would require the Department of Justice to establish a national "hotline" that would receive point-of-sale calls from licensed gun dealers. It would also require the Department to ensure that
purchasers will not be misidentified, notwithstanding the well known shortcomings of the Nation's criminal history records. If the Staggers amendment is adopted by the House, the Administration will seek Senate amendments to make several changes. These amendments would relate to the nature and cost of the "hotline" identification system, the performance requirements regarding misidentification, and the liability of the Federal Government as a result of misidentification.

The Administration believes that the advantages of the Department of Justice system are as follows: (1) The ability to identify felons buying firearms will be greatly improved because the Department's system is designed to integrate States into a national identification system as they enhance the accessibility and accuracy of their criminal history records; and (2) State and local law enforcement authorities will assume responsibility for performing background checks of prospective handgun buyers as a result of a cooperative relationship between the Federal, State and local governments.