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FDLE surrenders decision on gun records to committee
By STEVE BOUSQUET
© St. Petersburg Times, TALLAHASSEE -- After placing himself at odds with the attorney general, some local police officials and gun control forces, the head of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement will let an oversight board determine how to keep track of firearms transactions at pawnshops. Commissioner Tim Moore has faced criticism from gun control groups since May, when he said state law required pawnshop gun records to be purged after 48 hours from a new database that will track stolen goods. Critics said Moore was bowing to pressure from the National Rifle Association, which views retention of gun records as a form of gun registration. Attorney General Bob Butterworth interpreted the law differently and called the FDLE chief "flat-out wrong." Butterworth told Moore in a July 18 letter that state law doesn't require purging of gun transactions after 48 hours, but that the records would remain confidential under Florida law if used only for police investigations. Moore said Wednesday the debate over keeping track of the gun transactions has been "misdirected" and that his position has been misunderstood. "The debate is an emotional issue on something that has always been an emotional issue: firearms," Moore said. "Let me be clear: What I want is not what's driving this. I never once intended firearms to be treated differently than any other piece of property. But it doesn't matter what I think. There's 25 pages of law in Florida statutes, and it's very specific." Moore said he would let the presidents of statewide sheriffs and police chiefs associations nominate members to the oversight board, and that he would probably add some appointees of his own. The Tampa chapter of the Million Mom March, a gun control organization, is urging Gov. Jeb Bush to intervene in the dispute. Arthur Hayhoe, director of the Florida Coalition to Stop Gun Violence in Pasco County, said Moore's action looked like a clear sign of backtracking by FDLE. "You know the standard way of deflecting what you've done. You give it to a committee and have them take care of it," Hayhoe said.
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