Remember how ex-Attorney General John Ashcroft opposed any attempt to keep records on people who bought
guns? You know how those records have to be destroyed in 24 hours? Behold his handiwork...
At least 44 times between February and June of 2004, people regarded by the FBI as known or suspected members of terrorist groups sought permission to buy or carry guns, the GAO found.
In all but nine cases, the FBI or state authorities who handled the requests allowed the gun applications to proceed, because a check of the would-be buyer found no automatic disqualification, like being a felon, an illegal immigrant or a person deemed mentally defective, the report found.
In the four months after the formal study ended, authorities received 14 more gun applications from terror suspects, and all but two of those were cleared to proceed, the investigation found. Officials approved 47 of 58 gun applications from terror suspects during nine months last year, the GAO found.
What a total Ashcroft!
