Terrorists who want to buy guns have friends on Capitol Hill

[Emit]

Terrorists who want to buy guns have friends on Capitol Hill

By George W. Bush's standard -- you're either with us or against us in the fight against terrorism -- NRA chief Wayne LaPierre should be just a few frequent-flier miles short of a free ticket to Gitmo right about now. Seems he and the rest of the gun lobby are fighting for terrorists' right to buy firearms.

The Bush administration urged Congress to pass a law barring people on the terrorist watch list from buying explosives and guns. The gun lobby objected. Now the Obama administration is urging Congress to pass the same legislation, and the gun lobby continues to object.

~snip~

The bill to close the gun loophole isn't on the radar of Democratic leaders, making it unlikely that it will reach the Senate floor. Still, Lieberman's hearing was fascinating because it forced the pro-gun crowd to take their philosophy to its logical extreme: Are they so absolute about the Second Amendment that they'd risk national security by fighting for the right of would-be terrorists to own guns? Alarmingly, they are.

~snip~

The lone pro-gun lawmaker to engage in the fight was the fearless Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who rolled his eyes and shook his head when Lieberman got the NYPD's Kelly to agree that the purchase of a gun could suggest that a terrorist "is about to go operational."

~snip~

"If society decides that these people are too dangerous to get on an airplane with other people, then it's probably appropriate to look very hard before you let them buy a gun," countered Bloomberg.

"But we're talking about a constitutional right here," Graham went on. He then changed the subject, pretending the discussion was about a general ban on handguns. "The NRA -- " he began, then rephrased. "Some people believe banning handguns is the right answer to the gun violence problem. I'm not in that camp."

Graham felt the need to assure the witnesses that he isn't soft on terrorism: "I am all into national security. . . . Please understand that I feel differently not because I care less about terrorism."

~snip~

"Can I take a shot at that?" Graham asked when Lieberman finished. After some laughter, he added: "Probably a bad choice of words."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/05/AR2010050505211.html?hpid=opinionsbox1&sid=ST2010050503674

[Blue-Jay]

1. It's not about "banning handguns".

It's about being more careful about who can buy them.

Graham is such a sick fuck.

[jody]

2. Article is purposefully misleading. An issue is whether an appointed official should have unilateral

authority to prevent any law-abiding citizen to purchase a firearm for lawful purposes.

See S. 1317 http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=s111-1317

[Travis_0004]

3. Do you know Ted Kennedy had trouble flying because he was on the no fly list once

It was a mistake, somebody was using the allies T. Kennedy. Apparently, he even had a bit of trouble getting his name off the list, even as a senator who could call Tom Ridge directly. If your name ended up on the list, do you think you could just call up Janet Napolitano to get that straitened out.

Other people who have been on the no fly list:
Cat Stevens
Nelson Mandela
Former US generals
US Air marshalls, as their names closely match other people on the list
ACLU attorneys.

The no fly list is far from perfect. It needs to be fixed as well, but saying somebody can not buy a gun because they are on the no fly list is stupid.

[benEzra]

4. This was a BUSH ADMINISTRATION proposal.

Revoking the gun rights of anyone placed on the Bush secret blacklists was a pet project of Bush's AG Gonzales.

I guess if you just shout "Terrah!!" then secret blacklists are bad, but if you shout "Terrah!! Gunz!!" they're OK... :sarcasm:

[The Straight Story]

5. No need to worry, not like the government would abuse such lists/labels......(nt)