LAWSUIT QUESTIONS GOVERNMENT RECORDS

The issue raised by the National Rifle Association in its recent lawsuit against the FBI is one worth exploring in a court of law. It has to do with the kinds of records government keeps on its citizens.

It would take more space than this newspaper has in a year's worth of editions to list all the ways governments -- local, state and federal -- maintain records. To name a few: tax records, driver's licenses, insurance records, criminal records, traffic offenses, legal actions, military records, Social Security information and school records.

In its lawsuit, the NRA contends that the FBI intends to amass a registry of individuals who have lawfully purchased a handgun. This is a result of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act's new National Instant Criminal Background Check System that went into effect Nov. 30.

The NRA concedes that individuals who are turned down when they seek FBI approval to purchase a handgun are likely targets for FBI surveillance. But the FBI also intends to keep a list of names -- for up to six months -- of these who have no criminal record or any other bar to purchasing a handgun.

This, contends the NRA, is a step too far toward an official government list of law-abiding citizens.

But a quick review of the short list of government records above shows that government has for many years maintained records of law-abiding citizens as well as those who act outside the law. Even so, the NRA's concerns should be shared by Americans everywhere.

Some records are vital to the administration of government in such a way that it benefits its citizens. That's why there are no lawsuits, say, against maintaining accurate and complete records of an individual's school records. In recent years, layers of privacy protection have been added to such records. In some ways, such privacy restrictions have been beneficial to individuals, although many parents who no longer have access to their son's or daughter's college grades might be willing to argue about that.

In the case of the FBI's plans to monitor lawful gun owners, there is another principle at stake: the constitutional right to own guns. It is the blend of this right with the distaste for government records that do not in some way benefit the citizenry that has led the NRA to seek a remedy in court.

Given the powerful record-keeping abilities of the Computer Age in which we live, every American should be concerned about the effort of government to keep track of our private lives. When we participate in public arenas -- schools, prisons, driver's license testing centers and the like -- we must expect to become part of the vast record kept by government. But when we engage in private affairs -- lawful gun ownership among them -- we should not have to worry about who is keeping track.

CHRISTMAS RETURNS TO CUBA

It wasn't what you would call an earthshaking news story, but there was something poignant, particularly during this holiday season, about the Associated Press report from Havana: Cuba has officially sanctioned the Christmas holiday for the first time since 1969.

While the government continues to defer from any religious involvement -- Cuba is officially a secular nation now rather than an atheist one -- Cubans will be able to observe Christmas as a holiday without government reprisal. For many of that island's people, this will be a first in their lifetimes.

Whenever we get so caught up in the holiday rush that we forget why we celebrate Christmas, it might be good to pause and reflect on Cuba, a once-proud Roman Catholic country with strong religious traditions. Today, Cubans must rely on bureaucrats and a dictator just for permission to have a Christmas tree. How sad.