WASHINGTON, DC — The Supreme Court should abolish the Brady Bill altogether rather than struggling to decide which government officials get to enforce it, the Libertarian Party said recently.

''The highest court in the land shouldn't be dividing up the power to violate the Bill of Rights between federal, state, and local bureaucrats,'' said Steve Dasbach, Libertarian Party chairman. ''Instead, it's the Supreme Court's responsibility to defend the Second Amendment — and every other basic civil right — against usurpation by government.''

In arguments before the Supreme Court last month, sheriffs from Arizona and Montana challenged the Brady Bill as an unconstitutional infringement on state and local governmental authority. The legislation, signed into law in 1993, requires local governments to conduct criminal background checks on handgun purchasers and mandates a five-day waiting period.

''The nine justices could have used this case as an opportunity to reaffirm the Constitutional right to keep and bear arms,'' said Dasbach. ''Instead, they let the case degenerate into a legalistic argument over which government agency — state or federal — is best equipped to violate that right.''