Banning Terror Suspects from Possessing Guns

Banning Terror Suspects from Possessing Guns – Again the Refrain

Phil Lee, 9/21/2007

Mayor Bloomberg is calling for legislation to ban terror suspects from possessing guns. Below is a segment of a story documenting this call
from the NY Sun. In case you believe you've heard this story before, it isn't Deja Vue, you did. Beneath the Sun Bloomberg story is another segment from the San Francisco Chronicle published in 2001 (nearly 6 years earlier).

Slightly earlier than the Chronicle story, Eric Holder made a similar call in a Washington Post editorial ("Keeping Guns Away From Terrorists," 10/25/01, Wash. Post). My response to Holder's call can be seen at
http://www.mcrkba.org/ResHolder.html

So, what is wrong with denying terror suspects access to arms? The
authorities never make a mistake, right? It was just my imagination that Sen. Kennedy was denied boarding on a flight because he was on a list of terror suspects (at least his name was, or was close to one that was).

And why are terror suspects free to roam and be able to buy guns? Why aren't they in jail waiting trial? Oh, you say, they haven't been charged -- the authorities don't have enough evidence, the authorities just have a suspicion.

Well, what ever happened to “innocent until proven guilty”? It appears that this concept of justice is suspended when guns are involved. We better take these suspects’ driving privileges also to prevent them from driving car bombs to places they want to attack.

This repeat performance shows a point about the anti-gun crowd. They are nothing if not persistent in repeating dumb efforts to restrict freedom. So, it is important to keep information and ideas about these topics because they are a singularly un-imaginative crowd. Most of what they do today is the same as what they did 10, 20 or 30 years ago. So, there is value in knowing what we did previously and how well it worked.

http://www.nysun.com/article/62845
September 18, 2007
Mayor, Senator Seek To End Gun Buys by Terrorists
BY JILL GARDINER - Staff Reporter of the Sun
September 18, 2007

Mayor Bloomberg is calling on Congress to back new legislation to
keep guns away from terrorism suspects.

Yesterday, the mayor and Senator Lautenberg of New Jersey, a lead
sponsor of the bill, said current federal law has an inexcusable
loophole that allows individuals on terrorism watch lists to purchase
guns legally.

The mayor said Congress cannot wait and must act before a terrorist
opens fire in a restaurant, train station, school, or other public
location.

"How many more warning signs do we need?" Mr. Bloomberg said during a
news conference at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge, one of the city's
most glaring terrorist targets. "We know that terrorists want guns,
we know who many of them are, and we're not doing anything about it."

Mr. Lautenberg, a Democrat who is jointly pushing the legislation
with Rep. Peter King, a Republican of Long Island, said, "There's a
gap in our laws that defies common sense."

. . .

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2001/12/20/MN228847.DTL
Gun control group warns on terrorists
Democrats pan Bush for not tightening laws on purchases
Zachary Coile, Chronicle Washington Bureau
Thursday, December 20, 2001

(12-20) 04:00 PDT Washington -- Terrorists are exploiting weak U.S.
gun laws to buy handguns and assault weapons that could be used in
attacks on America or its allies abroad, a gun control group charged
yesterday.

The report by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence was seized
upon by Democratic lawmakers, who say the Bush administration had not
done enough to tighten the nation's gun laws.

"You would think this administration, in managing this war against
terrorism, would want to make sure that we keep weapons out of the
hands of terrorists," said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles.

. . .

E-mail Zachary Coile at zcoile@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page A - 13 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Updated by Phil Lee on 9/22/10. Contact maryland_alert at yahoo dot com (sorry for being obscure, but web mail address scavenge programs make this practice necessary).