Federal Gun Control Requires IT Overhaul

New submitter Matt Slaybaugh writes "John Foley at InformationWeek has an editorial saying that the missing piece in the new gun control legislation is adequate data management. 'President Obama introduced 23 executive orders on Jan. 16 aimed at reducing gun violence through a combination of tougher regulation and enforcement, research, training, education and attention to mental healthcare. Several of the proposed actions involve better information sharing, including requiring federal agencies to make relevant data available to the FBI's background check system and easing legal barriers that prevent states from contributing data to that system.' But concrete plans are needed now to improve the current poor system of data collection and sharing. Federal CIO Steven VanRoekel's Digital Government Strategy, introduced in May, 'defines an IT architecture and processes for sharing digitized content securely, using Web APIs and with attention to protecting privacy. ... Unfortunately, on top of the data quality issues identified by the White House, and the FBI's and ATF's outdated IT systems, there's a lack of transparency about the systems used to enforce federal gun-control laws.'"

Comments

Re:Reduce gun violence?

[NeutronCowboy]

What the fuck is wrong with you people? You really, really can't see the issue with not providing the president of the United States of America - YOUR president - with more security than Joe Schmoe down the street? Has ideology really clouded your mind so much that you can't the basic reality of who wants to kill the president, and who wants to kill Joe Schmoe?

No, seriously - what the fuck is wrong with you people? I wouldn't be so flabbergasted at this comment - and seriously worried - if this wouldn't be now a common response to the question of gun control. It's being repeatedly modded up on slashdot, crops up on many, many other fairly representative sites, and is being put out by political figures and newscaster as if it's the most normal thing in the world.

You know what I'm actually worried about? That all you people claiming to want to defend the country against tyranny are actually just looking for an excuse to shoot people you disagree with.

Fuck that shit. I'd rather be in Switzerland, a place with an ACTUAL militia and real gun laws. And a real gun culture to boot, not this penis-replacement that seems so pervasive in the US.