While the Bush administration is trying to be vigilant against foreign enemies who would do America harm, it is dropping the ball on a domestic threat: the more than 7,000 people who bought guns in 2002 and 2003 but should have been barred from doing so.

Federal law requires that gun buyers wait up to three days before receiving a purchased weapon. The waiting period was set by Congress in 1993 under the Brady Act to prevent fugitives, previous criminals, drug addicts, illegal aliens and other high risks from buying weapons from federally licensed dealers. With the introduction of instant background checks five years later, though, most sales began receiving faster approval.

The chilling numbers come courtesy of a federal study of the U.S. Justice Department. A report released July 26 by Inspector General Glenn A. Fine said that the department was not giving proper oversight to gun dealers and thereby letting too many illegal purchases to occur. The report also claimed that a new policy ordering that records of background checks be destroyed within 24 hours will make it easier for criminals to get guns from shady dealers.

Mr. Fine said that "the shortened retention time will make it much easier for corrupt [licensed dealers] to avoid detection." Prior to Attorney General John Ashcroft, records on background checks were kept for 90 days. The inspector general said that the lack of a records trail made it more difficult for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to check compliance with the law.

Although 17 million guns were purchased in the last two years, 122,000 were denied because of background checks. Despite those denials, the inspector general's study said charges were brought in only 154 cases.

"Here we have the oversight agency for the Justice Department finding that Attorney General Ashcroft's plan to destroy background check records will protect corrupt gun dealers and allow criminals to get guns," said Michael Barnes, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "What happened to the Bush administration's pledge to strongly enforce our gun laws? Now the Justice Department itself has admitted that its policies have weakened the Brady Act."

With that level of underenforcement, more than gun-control advocates should be incensed.

Americans have a right to be safe from criminals who wield illegally gotten weapons, and in many cases today's laws would be enough to stop them. But if the Bush administration refuses to enforce the statutes already on the books, citizens who feel little security will have no choice but to work for tougher gun controls.