Editorial: Bill of Rights gets a selective defense

Friday, Dec. 7, 2001 | 10:06 a.m.

Attorney General John Ashcroft hasn't been shy in crafting tough new policies or legislation in the war on terrorism, even when the initiatives are criticized for violating civil liberties. That's why it's curious that the Justice Department turned down an FBI request to check the department's records to see if any of the 1,200 people detained after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks had purchased guns. The New York Times reported Thursday that some FBI officials were frustrated because they believed that the law that created the background check system for buying guns permitted them to look at the records, but the Justice Department ruled that the law didn't allow such access.

Then again the Justice Department's decision shouldn't be too surprising. After all, as a U.S. senator, Ashcroft was a strong supporter of gun rights and opposed the government's access to background check records. For that matter, don't forget that one of the chief objections to Ashcroft's nomination as attorney general was that he would let his extremely conservative ideology interfere with his duties to act impartially as the nation's top law enforcement official. If he's not careful, Ashcroft could wind up eroding support for Bush's anti-terrorism policies if it seems that the administration believes that the Second Amendment is sacrosanct but that all the other protections in the Bill of Rights can be elastic in wartime.