You have to wonder about the agenda here.

Armed and Dangerous: The NRA squashed legislation that would have helped keep firearms away from suspected terrorists.
By David Lieber, 03.11.05, The American Prospect

In January 2004, Congress stripped from the FBI the authority to retain firearm background-check records of presumptively legal gun buyers for more than 24 hours. The policy, championed by former Attorney General John Ashcroft, seemed particularly unwise in light of the warnings from Bush administration officials that terrorism could manifest itself in any number of ways.

At the time, the National Rifle Association (NRA) chided gun-control proponents for seeking to sneak their political agenda under the rubric of terrorism policy. The implications of this policy, however, were difficult to ignore.

On Tuesday, March 8, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a study that documented dozens of instances where suspected terrorists on federal watch lists were able to purchase firearms with impunity. In 47 of 58 instances over a nine-month period in 2004, suspected terrorists were approved by the FBI to purchase firearms because the background check revealed no disqualifying characteristic (such as a conviction for a felony). [snip]

Prior to February 2004, when a firearm was mistakenly given to an individual who's prohibiting from purchasing one, law-enforcement officials could initiate what is called a "firearm-retrieval action" to obtain the weapon from the individual who has purchased it, as well as prosecute him or her. Under prior law, the FBI was able to retain the records of approved gun purchasers for up to 60 days. [snip]

That such a development could come to fruition seemed intuitively obvious to the FBI Agents Association, which, prior to the enactment of the 24-hour destruction policy, opined that “the more the retention period is reduced, the more difficult it would become to use the paperwork to investigate or prosecute crimes related to the use of sales of the firearms in question.”

Osama bin Laden has been a fugitive on the run since September 11, 2001. If we can’t catch the most wanted criminal on earth in less than 40 months, how can we expect the FBI to catch a terrorist with a gun in 24 hours?

The power that the NRA wields over congress is remarkable! Then again, the NRA’s gang of single-issue voters is large indeed and when asked to jump, only asks “how high?” They really wield clout galore. Wayne LaPierre (oooh! French sounding!), the NRA’s president, was just on the tube defending the rights of folks on the terrorism watch list to freely buy guns, no questions asked. Personally, I’d prefer that they wait a day or two extra and be asked a few questions. How about you?