DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., July 8 (UPI) -- Gun advocates say they are protesting Florida police efforts to check gun shop records as part of an attempt to hunt down a serial killer in cases gone cold.
Daytona Beach police chief Michael J. Chitwood mailed letters to gun sellers across Central Florida requesting names, phone numbers and addresses of customers who purchased .40-caliber Smith & Wesson guns in a two-year period during the time of the killings of three and possibly four women, the Orlando Sentinel reported Wednesday.
"Working with the gun shops (to catch a serial killer) seems to be a brilliant move," said Tod W. Burke, a criminal-justice professor at Radford University in Virginia.
Federal law prohibits using the National Instant Criminal Background Check System from establishing a registry or database of firearms or gun owners. Gun shops nationwide keep records of customers who buy guns, the Sentinel reported.
"Police can ask the gun shops if they can be allowed review the information (on gun owners) and inspect it, but not compile or copy it," said Marion Hammer, a National Rifle Association lobbyist in Tallahassee.
State law prohibits police and other governmental agencies from requesting and compiling gun buyers' personal information. Chitwood's actions have incurred the outrage of gun advocates, the newspaper said.
"What are they trying to do? Show up on someone's doorstep and ask to see their gun?" Hammer asked. "This is exactly what the law was intended to stop. (The police) need to read the law."
