WASHINGTON -- The government no longer is releasing records tracking the source of firearms used in crimes, a concession to the gun lobby approved by Congress last month.
The change was enforced for the first time last week when the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives turned down Freedom of Information Act requests made by The Associated Press and others for certain gun records.
The change bars the release of any information that was gathered regarding gun dealers and forces the ATF to more quickly purge information obtained in background checks of buyers. Law enforcement agencies still would have access.
The measure was added at the request of Rep. Todd Tiahrt, R-Kan., to the big spending bill for multiple government agencies that was approved by Congress. The Bush administration, gun groups and other supporters said it was needed to ensure police investigations were not compromised by the release of data and to protect gun dealers from those who would use the information to unfairly tar dealers.
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