A new government report has found that more than 40 terror suspects were able to legally buy guns inside the United States last year even though their names appear on government watch lists. And once the purchases were made, information on the sales were kept for only 24 hours. Last year Congress passed a law forcing the government to destroy all gun sale purchase records within 24 hours. Peter Hamm, of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said current policies “benefit terrorists and benefit criminals.” Hamm said “For the last four years, the Bush White House and Republican leaders in Congress have been pursuing gun policies that are on the wish list of the National Rifle Association despite repeated warnings from law enforcement leaders.” The Attorney General John Ashcroft came under criticism after Sept. 11 when he blocked the FBI from matching gun-buying records against lists of terror suspects.