[clydefo]

troysvihl,
You point out:
"...the legislative history of this law makes it pretty clear that the use of this information in any way other than to check the background of gun buyers will violate Congress's intent. The anti-second amendmant senators and congressman that voted for this law promissed that repeatedly."

Surely they were only agreeing that the data would not be used in any other administrative or regulatory manner. They could not have intended to thwart criminal investigations, as they had just written a provision saying that they were not restricting "...authority to inquire into the disposition of any firearm in the course of a criminal investigation".

The occasional investigation is not going to establish a registration system. The courts would never allow the Feds to engage in some sort of ruse and seek court-ordered investigations of every gun transaction, if that is the fear.

Give it up, Ashcroft!