Er, Senator Cruz and/or TPM, Schu-Man-Too Does Not Prohibit the Establishment of a National Gun Registry

 

'Republican Sen. Ted Cruz admits background checks bill would not bring about national gun registry'

– @TPM

  

He’s wrong or TPM is mischaracterising what he said. Schu-Man-Too only prevents the Attorney General from setting up a registry.

Here’s the Schu-Man-Too text:

(c) Prohibition of National Gun Registry.-Section 923 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end the following:

(m) The Attorney General may not consolidate or centralize the records of the

(1) acquisition or disposition of firearms, or any portion thereof, maintained by

(A) a person with a valid, current license under this chapter;
(B) an unlicensed transferor under section 922(t); or

(2) possession or ownership of a firearm, maintained by any medical or health insurance entity.”

The limit on creating a registry applies only to the Attorney General (and thus to entities under his direct control, such as the FBI and BATFE).

Applying inclusio unius exclusio alterius, it IS permissible for entities other than the Attorney General, such as HHS or DHS, to create gun registries, using whatever information they can acquire from their own operations.

Under Schu-Man-Too, Sebelius could consolidate and centralise gun records from the information she gathered from healthcare providers or insurance companies. DHS could create a registry using info received from states like Missouri. The Department of the Army could centralise firearm information on current and former military through the VA, questionnaires, etc. Then, HHS, DHS, the VA, etc, could compile all of their individual data into one registry.

http://tinyurl.com/bu6tftn