Terror Watch List
The NYT idiotorializes on what a great idea it is to deny citizens their constitutional rights without due process of law:
Here is a chilling and potentially lethal fact of life: A person on the F.B.I.’s terrorist watch list is barred from boarding an airplane yet is quite free to buy high-power firearms and ammunition at any American gun shop.
No, what’s chilling is that in the land of the free, we place people on such lists. But going on:
This bizarre “terror gap” is starkly underlined by the latest federal data showing that 272 individuals on the terrorist watch list attempted to buy firearms last year, and all but 25 were cleared to make purchases. Those rejected had records for criminal felonies, spousal violence and other threats stipulated in federal gun controls that still don’t use the terrorist watch list as a red-flag caution.
So, 247 people on a watch list bought guns? Did they actually terrorize anybody with them?
May 11th, 2011 at 9:27 am
And why were they on that list, and why were they able to walk free if they were such a threat.
We all know the answer. They were most likely on the list because somebody has a similar name to them, or they downloaded Peace Train by Kat Stephens on iTunes, or they donated to a local Sheriff’s political opponent etc etc.
May 11th, 2011 at 9:29 am
So, how are they able to figure this out? I mean, if we’re destroying NICS approval records within 24 hours, and NICS doesn’t even reference the Terror Watch List, how are they linking the two up?
May 11th, 2011 at 9:32 am
And how many of those 247 were false positives? Were those people actually on the list or do they just have the same names as people on the list? This is my uncle-in-laws problem. Sucks to have a common name like John Smith in this day and age.
May 11th, 2011 at 10:20 am
As long as none of those attempted purchases were by minors…
May 11th, 2011 at 10:30 am
The ghey lady is just being catty. She’s gotten a bit daft in her old age. The idea of punishing people merely for being on a government list is indefensible.
May 11th, 2011 at 10:32 am
Justin,
I’m guessing, but I’d wager that while it would take legislation to to cause being on the watch list to DQ one from purchase, there’s no legal impediment to them comparing a NICS call against the watch list, as long as they just make a tick mark and don’t store the name.
Probably attached as a rider to some other bill was a request for a study giving hard numbers on how often Secret Suspected Terr’ists tried to buy guns.
May 11th, 2011 at 10:55 am
It’s the Terrorist Loophole! Imagine if terrorists bought their guns through the gun show loophole. Then we’d have the Terrorist Gun Show Loophole! They’d be shooting airplanes out of the sky with their 50mm Semi-Assault rifles in no time.
tweaker
May 11th, 2011 at 11:24 am
Thanks, Tam. That makes sense.
May 11th, 2011 at 11:47 am
True story time. One of my nieces, who was on the U.S. Ski Team for awhile, was put on a Watch List because some broad in Europe had the SAME NAME. When they were flying around the world to attend matches, she’d have to show up at the Airport a couple of hours early, and point out to the THE STUPID AGENCY that she wasn’t that person, here’s a certified copy of her Birth Certificate, with a different Middle Name, and could she please catch the flight to Switzerland? In spite of efforts by her local Congress Critter and her State Senators, she is still on the List.
Related note: Did you know that, as of a few weeks ago, that if you need a U.S. Passport, your Birth Certificate MUST have BOTH Parents FULL name on it, and those that were printed 10/20/30/40 years ago with Middle Initials are no longer considered Valid forms of I.D.? Go to the State Department’s site and check it out. Funny how easy it is for Illegal Aliens to get INTO the U.S., but how hard it is for CITIZENS to LEAVE the country, isn’t it? George Orwell was right.
Frack the NYT.
May 11th, 2011 at 1:04 pm
“idiotorializes”? What a wonderful word! I’ll have to work it into conversation today.
May 11th, 2011 at 6:01 pm
Speakertweaker: Who sells these 50mm assault rifles of which you speak?
I want one.
May 11th, 2011 at 6:02 pm
Is it like a Bofors 40mm with a shoulder thing that goes up?
May 11th, 2011 at 6:11 pm
What that tells me is that most off the people on the terror watch list aren’t criminals. So why the fuck are they on a no-fly list?
May 12th, 2011 at 12:59 am
I’m on the list and get pulled aside every time.
I guess its because I’m an old white fart that votes R.