What does the Tiahrt Amendment do? It prohibits the National Tracing Center of the ATF from releasing information from its firearms trace database to anyone other than a law enforcement agency or prosecutor in connection with a criminal investigation. The problem is that Gun Control Advocates wanted to use this information to enact frivolous lawsuits against Gun Manufacturers and Gun Stores.

However, when some trace data pointed out that the guns recovered at crime scenes in Mexico were part of ATF’s Fast & Furious, CSGV and the rest of the gang dismissed it or had no opinion and never sued the Federal Gov or demanded that the responsibles be thrown in prison. How about that?

This is a nice summary & explanation of what the Thiart Amendments do:

• Releasing the information serves no useful purpose. The Congressional Research Service has repeatedly said “firearm trace data may be biased” and “cannot be used to test for statistical significance between firearm traces in general and the wider population of firearms available to criminals or the wider American public.”[1] These limitations exist because the “tracing system is an operational system designed to help law enforcement agencies identify the ownership path of individual firearms. It was not designed to collect statistics.”[2]
• Traced guns aren’t always “crime guns”; firearms may be traced for reasons unrelated to any armed crime. The BATFE trace request form lists “crime codes” for traffic offenses and election law violations, among many others.
• Trace information remains available for law enforcement use. The permanent version of the Tiahrt amendment ensures that trace data is available to federal, state, and local agencies “in connection with and for use in a bona fide criminal investigation or prosecution” or for use in administrative actions by BATFE—the principal agency responsible for overseeing the conduct of federally licensed firearms dealers. The language and history of the Gun Control Act are clear: Congress always intended to keep this information confidential, and to allow its use only for legitimate law enforcement purposes. The firearms trace database includes information such as the agency requesting a gun trace, the location from which the gun was recovered, and the identity of the dealer and original retail buyer.
• Both BATFE and the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) oppose release of trace data. In fact, BATFE has fought for years in the federal courts to keep trace records confidential, because they contain information (such as names of gun buyers) that could jeopardize ongoing investigations—not to mention law enforcement officers’ lives. For example, a suspected gun trafficker could search publicly released information for names of “straw purchasers” he had used to buy handguns, or for traces requested on guns he had sold. That information could lead him to names of officers, informants and witnesses against his crimes. (View commentary by FOP President Chuck Canterbury from April 24, 2007)

The above is from the NRA site so Antis can ignore without having to give it too much thought….not that they actually perform such higher brain function anyway.