July 9, 2007

THE NATION'S gun lobby has never been choosy about which party controls Congress. Although its contributions skew to the Republicans, plenty of Democrats have been held hostage to the demands of the free-spending National Rifle Association and its activist membership. This week in Washington, House leaders have a chance to show independence from the gun lobby by repealing an odious provision of the Justice Department's appropriations bill that prohibits police and local officials from seeing comprehensive federal data that traces guns used in crimes.

The so-called Tiahrt amendment, named for Kansas Republican Representative Todd Tiahrt, is a direct challenge to urban mayors who have banded together to reduce crimes committed with guns that cross state lines. Mayor Thomas Menino will be in Washington tomorrow with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other mayors. They'll be calling for removal of the Tiahrt provision, which has nothing to do with the right to bear arms. "The Second Amendment we all understand," Menino said last week. "But this is about illegal guns. We need these tools to track them."

The Senate already has caved on the Tiahrt amendment; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi can show real leadership by repealing this gift to the National Rifle Association.

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