Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Terrorists can legally buy guns under US federal law.

Suspected terrorists on the watch list can buy all the guns they want in the US, but I still have to take off my shoes at the airport. From the NY Post:

NEW YORK -- FBI data shows that suspects on the watch list for terrorists and violent gang members make hundreds of gun purchases every year that are totally legal.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg's anti-gun group on Wednesday highlighted the little-noticed figure that was included in an FBI report released last weekend.

The FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System Operations report said there were 230 legal purchases in 2006 by people on the watch list. There were 220 such purchases in 2005.

Under existing federal gun law, those buys are legal. Being on the watch list is not among the nine factors that disqualify someone from purchasing a gun -- like a felony conviction.

Bloomberg's group, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, is lobbying to close that loophole.

2 comments:

Ben Miner said...

Being a "suspected" terrorist should not be sufficient grounds for denying a Constitutional right. The government can pretty much put people on this for any reason they choose, or no reason at all. (just look at the no-fly list!)

Adam C. said...

I thought Guantanamo proved that suspected terrorists don't have any constitutional rights...