Gun 'buy back' program under fire

The chairman of the Libertarian Party in Chicago says he is losing
patience with an Illinois county sheriff -- and prepared to file his
second lawsuit -- because he cannot get a Freedom of Information Act
request processed relating to the sheriff's gun buy back program.

Matt Beauchamp said he is being "stonewalled" by Cook County Sheriff
Michael F. Sheahan over Beauchamp's attempt to acquire documents related
to the sheriff's gun buy back program -- a program Beauchamp has alleged
is illegal.

The rift between the two began when Beauchamp filed a lawsuit
Sept. 16, alleging that
the sheriff's gun buy back program, touted
as the most successful in the nation, violated state and federal
firearms laws.

The program, dubbed "Safe Streets Safe Schools 2000," began Sept. 10
and was held on three consecutive Fridays and Saturdays at eight
locations throughout Cook County.

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"The program offered citizens the opportunity to turn in weapons in
exchange for cash or gift certificates with no questions asked," said a
department press release. Beauchamp said the department was paying $50
apiece for the 5,300 guns turned in.

However, Beauchamp alleged that the buy back program resulted in
"illegal trafficking" of weapons and decided to sue the department.

In a published statement, the Libertarian Party chairman said the
sheriff's department could not conduct the program because it lacked
"the required Federal Firearm's License." Furthermore, Beauchamp alleged
that "Sheahan purchases these guns with no requirement for
identification and therefore is accepting weapons, many stolen, in
violation of federal law."

In the lawsuit,
Beauchamp cited Title 18, Sect. 923(a) of the United States Code, which states: "No person
shall engage in the business of importing, manufacturing, or dealing in
firearms, or importing or manufacturing ammunition, until he has filed
an application with and received a license to do so from the
Secretary." There are no exemptions for law enforcement officials
conducting buy back programs listed in that section.

"This is the most important legal action we have taken to date,"
Beauchamp said on Sept. 17. "Gun buy back programs cost the citizens of
Cook County thousands of dollars, do not reduce crime, and gives money
to those selling junk guns the cash they need to buy a real gun. The
sheriff's gun buy back is good politics, but bad public policy, and it
puts all the citizens of Chicago and Cook County at risk," he added.

However, the court did not agree. Federal district judge Elaine
Bucklo dismissed the suit as "frivolous," adding, "Mr. Beauchamp alleges
no other basis for his lawsuit than his interest in ensuring that public
officials act in accordance with the law. That is an insufficient
basis." Bucklo also advised Beauchamp to take his allegations to federal
law enforcement personnel if he believed there were grounds for an
investigation.

Beauchamp said he then turned to Cook County State's Attorney Dick
Devine to investigate the alleged state felonies as well, "but Devine
refused to do so. He told me the sheriff's department was exempt from
those federal laws, but he couldn't show me the state statute that
proves it."

Undeterred, the Party chairman decided to use Illinois Freedom of
Information laws to obtain "dozens of documents related to the ...
program." Among the documents requested, he said, "were copies of
legislation authorizing the buybacks, funding sources, rules governing
the buyback, the methods of weapon disposal, storage and transportation
and a list of serial numbers and traces conducted."

Beauchamp said that request was filed Dec. 17 with the Illinois
attorney general's office. "Under state law, FOIA requests are allowed
seven working days," he said, but two weeks later, on Dec. 30, "the
sheriff's office asked for more time."

Beauchamp asked a department attorney to put the request in writing,
but was turned down. When Beauchamp threatened to sue for the
information, he said he was told, "Go ahead."

"When I contacted them after allowing them 17 days to fill my
request, they said they hadn't complied yet because they were still
'trying to figure out how to respond,'" he said. "As a taxpaying citizen
and voter, I'm disgusted with the treatment I received.

"I'm beginning to wonder if there are any documents at all," he
added.

Katrina Spence, the sheriff's department attorney who handles FOIA
requests, said there didn't need to be specific legislation authorizing
the gun buy back program.

"The way to look at it is, you're authorized to act in law
enforcement," she told WorldNetDaily. "They don't have to enumerate each
and every duty that they have to perform or they should perform."

If that were the case, she said, "someone could look at that and say,
'you didn't include this or that, therefore it's not against the law or
therefore you can't act in such a manner.'"

Spence confirmed that she is "currently working on filling"
Beauchamp's request. A spokesman for the department's press office said
he didn't know when the request would be filled.

Beauchamp told WorldNetDaily he's "willing to give them two more
weeks, which is what Ms. Spence asked for," to grant his FOIA request.
After that, he said, he plans to file a suit to force the department to
respond, but he declined to elaborate on the conditions of the suit.