This amendment would assault the Second Amendment in a number of ways, such as by having the Attorney General and the Treasury Secretary “encourage law-abiding citizens to report the possession of illegal firearms to authorities,” and mandating that the Attorney General study the feasibility of developing “a single fingerprint convicted offender database” to be maintained by the FBI and develop “a procedure for the collection of data identifying persons that are prohibited from possessing a firearm.” The amendment would also require background checks at gun shows in which ten or more exhibitors are present or at least 20 percent of the exhibitors are selling guns. The Senate adopted the amendment on May 14, 1999 by a vote of 48 to 47 (Congressional Record, page S5326, roll call 118; we have assigned plusses to the “nays” and minuses to the yeas.”).
S.Amdt.344 to S.254 - Increased Gun Control
This bill violates the Second Amendment's guarantee that the "right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed."
