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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 Unfortunately, on top of the data quality issues identified by the White House, and the FBI's and ATF's outdated IT systems, there's a lack of transparency about the systems used to enforce federal gun-control laws.'"
This has absolutely zero to do with "entitlement to personal safety" (where the fuck are you even getting these words?). If somebody is in danger, we, as a society, protect him/her. If you call the police and say: "somebody is trying to kill me", you will have a whole bunch of police units coming to you to protect you. See witness protection, for examples.
The president lives under a constant threat, because he is a political figure and there are a lot of violent organizations or just lunatics who would love to kill him just for kicks. This has absolutely zero to do with who exactly he is (Obama, Bush, Clinton -- whoever) and has everything to do with him being a president. This, obviously, calls for more security, than your average Joe Schmo needs.
May Peace Prevail On Earth
Is it any surprise that the Federal govt. has knee-jerked and not thought through the repercussions, or the real-world applicability of their solutions?
What's shocking is that you think that this announcement is honest, or that they haven't thought through the consequences.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"