[12/11/1996–09/23/1997]: 42-t-26444785-20060476F-001-002-2013

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·They're to find out .whether there is cause. They've already
suspended him, they've already withheld his $30-million purse pending this
hearing. They're going to decide whether, there's enough basis' ,to
permanently suspend Tyson. And Tyson will have a chance to repeal and go
before the committee or the association if indeed they're going to do it.
MR. DONALDSON: Thank you very much, Armen Keteyian, from Las Vegas.
Thanks.
Coming next, a debate over the future of the Brady g"un control law with
Sarah Brady, the chair of Handgun Control and the wife ~of James Brady,
whom the bill was named; and Wayne LaPierre, the execudive vice president
of the National Rifle Association. '
And later, we'll have an exclusive interview with Jim McAndrew, who
wrote the Air Force's report on alleged UFO sightings at Roswell.
(Announcements. 1
MR. DONALDSON: Here with us now is Sarah Brady, head of Gun Control,
Incorporated; and Wayne LaPierre of the NRA. And joining me in the
questioning, as always, is George will, and also ABC News Justice
Department Correspondent Linda Douglass. Welcome to both of you.
MS. BRADY: Thank you.
MR. LAPIERRE: Thank you.
MR. DONALDSON: Glad to see you. Ms. Brady, does what the Supreme Court
did in striking down the provision which requi.res local law enforcement
officers to conduct background checks, does that seriously impair the
and what the law intended?
MS. BRADY: Not at all, no. We're that it wasn't upheld in
total, but a majority of the law was. We still ha~e the waiting period, .
the rest of the law is intact, and nationwide law enforcement fought for
this piece of legislation. They're going to continue, for the most part,
to run background checks.
MR. DONALDSON: Well, Mr. LaPierre, you opposed the bill when it was
passing through Congress. Do you know feel that what you opposed has been
satisfied, or do you still think it's an undesirable law?
'MR. LAPIERRE: Well, Sam, we felt that if the check was going to be
carried out and be constitutional, it had to, be carried out at the
national level. I mean, there "s a lot of hiding behind phony
statistics on this. They don't have 186,000 felons or 250,000, felons.
TheY've got a lot of John Smiths confused with John Smiths.
If they don't have that, you in the media ought to join with us and
demand they start prosecuting people. They've only prosecuted, U.S.
attorneys, seven people, according·to the General Accounting Office, and
jailed three in four years. I mean, is law enforcemet:lt, U.S. attorneys
giving all those felons a pass .. saying just go home? I mean, credit card
companies are tougher on someone that overdraws their credit card than
they're being on these so-called felons. We need to get the instant check
on line nationally. That's the way to do it. The NRA will support it. ,It's
a better system, and let's do it.
MR. DONALDSON: Are you saying the problem was overblown, that there
aren't that many people out there who shouldn't have handguns who would
:Jet them?
MR. LAPIERRE: I'm saying the statistics you're hearing in the press and
from the are not accurate. If they are, why aren't :itqey
prosecuting them? Most of those are simply clerical errors.
And there's not a technology problem on putting tliis technology on
line. ~ook, I mean this is the age of the Internet. You have laptops on
airplanes. You have kids running around with computers and video games
where the technology'S more complicated than what it would take to get
some of these records at .the state level off of paper and
computerizing them. And that's the only way you get a check.
MR. DONALDSON: Ms. Brady, is he right, the statistics are sort of all
overblown here?
MS. BRADY: Not at all. In the first , background checks nationwide
have stopped over 250,000 people from purchasing guns. What he is talking
about is how many prosecutions for people who lied on their form. That's
not what this law was intended to do. It was to stop 250,000 felons or
fugitives or kids from being able to buy guns. It's preventing the
purchase before it is made, and it's very wise to do. '
The instantaneous ,check system, when it up and going along with the
background check, will be'fine. But it's far from being ready and going,
and it has nothing to do with the national software or anything of that
type. It's the fact that the states around the country, many; of them, are
just not up to date and are unable to get their criminal record history
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