The challengers of the demand letters, according to the Brady Center, "take the position that life-saving law enforcement leads must sit gathering dust in gun dealer files, ready to be accessed only to solve a violent crime after it has shattered families, terrorized communities and led to the destabilization of our southern neighbor."
Arnold & Porter partner Steven Reade, representing the Brady Center, said in a friend-of-the-court brief that the challengers' position "is wrong as a matter of law and dangerous as a matter of policy."
The ATF demand letters, said Gardiner, who represents the firearms dealers, "are generating paper for the purpose of generating paper." The government, he said, "is catching people who go to gun stores and fill out paperwork."
Mike Scarcella writes for The National Law Journal, a Daily Report affiliate.
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