By John Diedrich of the Journal Sentinel

Posted: Feb. 20, 2010

As a candidate, Barack Obama promised to get rid of a law - quietly passed by Congress - that hides information from the public about guns used in crimes and the stores that sell them.

Instead, President Obama has embraced most of the law and added even more rules that could make it harder for law enforcement to crack down on dealers and stores selling guns to criminals.

While supporters of the secrecy law say shielding crime-gun data and dealer violations protects police officers, Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn labels that notion "a crock."

In fact, Flynn said he didn't get a clear picture of what role West Milwaukee's Badger Guns plays in selling crime guns that end up in his city until six police officers were shot in a two-year span - all with guns from Badger Guns or its predecessor, Badger Outdoors.

Before the law passed, it was easier to see such trends and Badger Outdoors ranked at the top, according to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. In 2005 alone, the store sold 537 crime guns - most in the nation.

As public pressure mounted on gun dealers, a little-known congressman from Kansas slipped sweeping secrecy rules into a giant federal budget bill, protecting law-breaking gun stores from scrutiny and making it harder for law enforcement to get information it considers vital.

U.S. Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.), who is the second-largest congressional recipient of National Rifle Association cash, said his legislation - commonly referred to as "Tiahrt" (pronounced TEE-heart) - is intended to protect undercover officers.

Flynn called the congressman's rationale for the law "a cynical fig leaf."

"Tiahrt was enacted after the ATF published reports telling everyone who the irresponsible gun dealers are. Suddenly officer safety was at risk? That is a crock," Flynn said. "It is sad, sad, sad that Congress is willing to endure this language and continue to be a willful accomplice in the arming of criminals with high-quality firearms."

By putting it in a budget bill, Tiahrt assured his measure would be passed without a separate up or down vote. Seven years later, there still hasn't been one.

U.S. Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.) is one of the only members of Wisconsin's delegation to vote on the secrecy measure - and he changed his position.

Obey voted against the Tiahrt Amendment in 2003 when it first came to the House Appropriations Committee. A year later, Obey changed his position and endorsed an even more restrictive version of the measure.

After Obey rose to House Appropriations Committee chairman, he again backed the secrecy rules in 2007. A spokesman said Obey was not available to comment.

Tiahrt's amendment not only put records off limits to the public, it choked off law enforcement's access to gun-trace data that is crucial for dismantling criminal organizations, according to Flynn and Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm.

The change means ATF can no longer say which stores sell the most crime guns. It is impossible to know where Badger Guns ranks today nationally.

ATF also won't give Milwaukee police the gun-trace data from other cities - even neighboring suburbs. And Chisholm cannot get trace information from ATF for all Milwaukee County police departments, though that is his jurisdiction.

"If you are playing blind man's bluff with that information, you are unnecessarily handicapping our efforts," Chisholm said. "I have no interest in taking political shots at anybody. I just want them to let us do our job, in a restrained but proper way."

Powerful Tool

Police have long traced guns, learning from ATF who bought the gun, when and from what store or dealer.

Trace information is a powerful tool to target gun traffickers and straw buyers - people who illegally buy guns for felons. It also reveals which stores sell the most guns that end up in crimes as well as other trends.

That kind of information was in reports done by the ATF a decade ago. Those reports showed 1% of gun dealers accounted for 57% of all crime guns sold in the nation. In 1999, the ATF reported Badger Guns & Ammo in West Milwaukee was No. 1.

Around that time, the city of Chicago was fighting the ATF in court to get trace data as it went after what it considered reckless gun stores. The ATF argued the information was sensitive - a view the agency still holds.

"ATF sharing another law enforcement's information would be blindly sharing that information, which could jeopardize investigations," Larry Ford, ATF's assistant director of public and government affairs, told the Journal Sentinel.

ATF's argument failed to sway a federal appeals court, which sided with Chicago.

Amendment passes

In July 2003, as the Chicago case was headed to the U.S. Supreme Court, Tiahrt surprised colleagues on the Appropriations Committee with a broad amendment limiting gun trace release and tied it to ATF's budget.

"I wanted to make sure I was fulfilling the needs of my friends who are firearms dealers," Tiahrt said, according to a Washington Post article from the time. "(National Rifle Association officials) were helpful in making sure I had my bases covered."

The amendment passed, 31-30. Records show Obey, the only Wisconsin member on the committee, voted against the measure.

Once the budget bill passed, the Supreme Court sent the case back because there had been action in Congress. After the change, the courts ultimately sided with the ATF.

Tiahrt's spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment. Tiahrt's Web site says his amendment was to protect police and investigations - not to stop ATF from issuing reports on crime guns sold by stores.

Flynn said Tiahrt isn't the only politician to use officer safety to advance an agenda.

"That's the pixie dust they want to throw in everybody's eyes," Flynn said. "If patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel, officer safety is the refuge of plenty of politicians out there."

Even before he introduced the language, Tiahrt had strong support of the NRA. Tiahrt received more than $77,000 from the group and people associated with it, according to data collected between 1989 and 2010.

"Without question, he is a candidate the NRA has gotten behind, at least in terms of dollars and cents," said Dave Levinthal, spokesman for the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics, which collects and analyzes campaign contributions.

Information dries up

Ten years ago, Chisholm - then an assistant district attorney - was accustomed to receiving detailed ATF analysis of local gun traces.

As head of the gun crimes unit, he used the data to spot trends, such as a spike in 17-year-olds carrying guns. He assigned a prosecutor to target those cases.

The ATF urged Chisholm and others to use the data in their enforcement efforts. Then after 2003, when the amendment passed, the information soon dried up.

"It took everyone in law enforcement by surprise," Chisholm said of the change. "We found that data so helpful."

Following the amendment's passage, the only time ATF's crime-gun sales rankings were released was in 2005 in connection with a lawsuit.

The amendment also shielded records about ATF inspections of gun stores, including the West Milwaukee gun store that has operated as Badger Guns & Ammo, Badger Outdoors and Badger Guns.

An investigation by the Journal Sentinel last month reported federal investigators recommended revoking the license of Badger Outdoors after a 2006 inspection - a rare move that could have closed the store.

But there was no revocation and the store remains open, operating as Badger Guns. Federal records show the license recommended for revocation was relinquished voluntarily, the players inside the operation took on new roles and a new license was issued to the son of a previous owner, creating what one federal official called a "clean slate."

A former owner of Badger Outdoors said he knew nothing about the recommended revocation, and he already had decided to turn in the license and retire. The current owner of Badger Guns declined to comment.

The changes not only halted the recommended revocation but also erased violations found by federal regulators over 17 years at Badger Outdoors, which at one time was known as Badger Guns & Ammo. The violations were blacked out under the Tiahrt Amendment in documents obtained by the newspaper.

Besides heavily redacting the documents, the ATF took two years to release the paperwork and gave different explanations of its actions.

Citing the newspaper's investigation, Chisholm and Flynn asked ATF for clean copies of paperwork on all the store's violations, saying it could contain evidence of crimes. ATF met with the officials on their request. Chisholm said ATF has cooperated, and he continues to examine the matter.

On a separate track, Milwaukee police have continued to run undercover operations outside Badger Guns - a mission started by Flynn after the officers were shot with guns from the store.

Officers have discovered that felons frequented Badger Guns, with some even practicing on the shooting range, which is against the law.

NRA and Obey

In 2004, Tiahrt introduced a new, more restrictive version of his amendment. Although Obey opposed the limits a year earlier, this time he voted for it, according to records.

Records from the Center for Responsive Politics show Obey has received at least $28,000 from the NRA and people associated with it between 1989 and 2010. Obey received nearly $10,000 of it since he ascended to chairman of the Appropriations Committee in 2007.

The congressman's spokesman, Ellis Brachman, said the NRA's support of Obey is nothing new.

"Congressman Obey has enjoyed the support of NRA for his entire career for balancing legitimate gun rights with public safety needs. That has nothing to do with this issue," he said.

In the 2004 version of Tiahrt's amendment, a statement from the committee said the intent was never to stop ATF's statistical reports on aggregate data and urged the agency to resume publication.

The ATF later issued reports, but they were more general than their earlier publications. The agency told the Journal Sentinel earlier this month it is considering bringing back the more detailed reports.

Obama's impact

The Tiahrt Amendment helped spark the creation of a group called the Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which made a push to roll back the law in 2007.

Moves were made in both the House and Senate Appropriations Committees to remove the restrictions. They failed. Obey voted in favor of keeping the limits while U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) voted to remove them in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

They are the only to Wisconsin members of Congress to have directly voted on the matter, according to records.

The 2007 version said police departments could get data from each other, but Flynn said that is inefficient when ATF has all the information.

Obama vowed to get rid of the Tiahrt Amendment altogether during the 2008 campaign.

Campaign literature read: "Obama and Biden would repeal the Tiahrt Amendment, which restricts the ability of local law enforcement to access important gun trace information&ensp.&ensp.&ensp.&ensp."

However, in his first budget, Obama included much of the Tiahrt limits. He cut out a line saying police and prosecutors need an investigative reason to get the data.

The president's supporters said that change means police chiefs can get all the gun-trace data they want, but ATF officials don't see it that way. ATF is considering a new system for police to share more data, but even then it won't be the unfettered access Flynn and others want, ATF officials said.

New restrictions

Obama also added new restrictions, saying the data couldn't be released if it jeopardized a criminal case or undercover officers and made it illegal to release the information publicly, for any reason.

In a statement, White House spokesman Matt Lehrich said the changes to the Tiahrt Amendment delivered on Obama's priority to address law enforcement's need for information.

The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence blasted the president.

"Rather than repealing it, he just tinkered with it and actually made the secrecy provision worse than President Bush," said Brady attorney Daniel Vice.

Mayor sees progress

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, a member of the mayors' group, said he didn't expect a repeal, but added the changes by Obama mark progress

"We recognize more work needs to be done," he said.

Chisholm and Flynn said they want to hear directly from ATF about what the changes will bring. Both think ATF wants to be helpful, but the Tiahrt Amendment limits them.

"I see them on the horns of a very painful dilemma," Flynn said of ATF. "They are hobbled, and they are looking over their shoulder, not at the bad guys but at Congress."

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Tiahrt timeline

Here is a look at the history of a federal law that sharply limits what information the government releases about illegal guns and firearms dealers who break the law.

2000: Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives refuses Chicago's request for trace reports as it goes after gun stores; a U.S. appeals court sides with city and the case goes to U.S. Supreme Court.

2002: ATF issues what would be its final report using gun trace data; West Milwaukee's Badger Outdoors is identified as a top seller of crime guns in the nation.

2003: U.S. Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.) introduces amendment to spending bill that strictly limits gun trace release; passes 31-30; U.S. Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.), a committee member, opposes the amendment. After the congressional action, the Chicago case is resolved in the ATF's favor.

2004: Tiahrt introduces more restrictions on trace information; Obey supports the change.

2007: Tiahrt revises amendment so police can share data; Obey supports; U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) opposes, some chiefs say they still can't get the information they need.

2008: Candidate Barack Obama vows to repeal amendment.

2009: President Obama inserts similar limits into first budget, deleting one restriction and adding others, including making it illegal to give out data.

2010: Obama inserts same language in 2011 budget.