Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand made her turnaround on a key gun-control issue official this week: She signed a letter seeking repeal of the NRA-backed Tiahrt Amendments, even though she sought to make them permanent just last June.

The letter, made public yesterday, asks Attorney General Eric Holder for his support for the repeal of Tiahrt, an appropriations bill amendment that since 2003 has restricted use of federal gun-trace data.

The letter was written and circulated by Gillibrand’s most outspoken critic: Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola), a gun-control activist whose husband was killed in 1993 by a gunman on the Long Island Rail Road.

Gillibrand acknowledged backing Tiahrt’s repeal by signing the letter, an aide said, but denied making a 180-degree turn on the measure. Gillibrand said instead that Tiahrt needs to be “fixed.

“I have always supported law enforcement having access to all of the information they need to keep us safe, fight against gun violence and keep guns out of the hands of criminals,” she said in a statement.

Gillibrand said there is language in Tiahrt that “specifically says that it will not limit data sharing for law enforcement.”

But she said New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and others “have made clear that the law does, on occasion, obstruct information-sharing for law enforcement.”

McCarthy said she is “very happy” Gillibrand changed her position and promised to “keep her feet to the fire.”

Paul Helmke, president of the gun-control group Brady Campaign to End Gun Violence, said he was “pleasantly surprised” by what he called “a big turnaround.”

But NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam said Tiahrt is designed to keep gun trace data from falling into the wrong hands, such as those of criminals.

“We’re disappointed there are some politicians who are being led astray by Mayor Bloomberg and allies of the gun control lobby like [Sen.] Chuck Schumer,” Arulanandam said.

As a House member from upstate New York, Gillibrand in June signed on as a co-sponsor of a bill that would in effect have codified the restrictions on sharing gun trace data, a bill backed by the National Rifle Association, Helmke said.

The restrictions hamper police and local law enforcement investigations into illegal guns and gun-trafficking, he said.

Source: Newsday