Gun Data Ban Vote in House Seen as Close

A vote today in the House Appropriations Committee on legislation at the center of Mayor Bloomberg's efforts to stem the flow of illegal guns into the city is expected to be close, observers said.

The Tiahrt Amendment, named after Rep. Todd Tiahrt, a Republican of Kansas, restricts the ability of municipalities to use firearm trace data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives for anything except specific investigations by police departments.

Mr. Bloomberg and members of the coalition he co-founded, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, contend the amendment hinders the ability of cities to investigate crooked gun dealers responsible for the proliferation of guns on their streets.

Nearly two weeks ago, the coalition's campaign was dealt a blow when the Senate Appropriations Committee voted 18-12 to pass a more strongly worded version of the amendment from Senator Shelby, a Republican of Alabama. The Senate amendment mandates prison time for a police officer who passes trace data to an unauthorized recipient.

Mr. Bloomberg said in a statement at the time that the vote "showed Congress at its most craven, buckling to pressure from the gun lobby to protect those who traffic in illegal guns."

One of the congressmen in today's meeting is expected to propose an amendment similar to Mr. Shelby's, according to the president of the Brady Campaign to Stop Gun Violence, Paul Helmke. "We're concerned," Mr. Helmke said of the vote, adding that some Democrats are making it clear that "they don't want to anger anyone in the gun lobby."

By contrast, Rep. Jim Moran, a Democrat of Virginia, is planning to propose a complete repeal of the Tiahrt Amendment, a spokesman, Austin Durrer, said.

If the committee votes through the amendment, Mr. Helmke said he and other activists would push legislators to force a vote on the House floor when they convene later this month.

A former assistant director at the ATF, Wally Nelson, said Mr. Bloomberg was advocating for something that would hurt future investigations of gun smuggling. "Trace data is sensitive data," he said. "To release that material would be detrimental to investigations," he claimed.