Sun-Times: Terrorists buying guns? There ought to be a law
This article originally appeared in the Chicago Sun-Times on June 19, 2011. Read the original here.
Could someone please remind us which constitutional amendment says, "The right of terrorists to buy arms shall not be infringedĀ?
We know it's got to be in there somewhere, given how the National Rifle Association and its compliant fellow travelers in Congress carry on whenever someone suggests it might be a bad idea to let terrorists purchase weapons.
Last month, on a party-line vote, a congressional committee shot down a bill that would have allowed the U.S. attorney general to ban someone on the FBI's terrorist watch list from buying guns.
Supporters, led by with U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Chicago), are trying to keep the legislation alive, but aren't making much headway. No terrorist has to worry, at least for now, about suddenly being cut off from access to weaponry.
We suppose we ought to be grateful that Congress is so solicitous toward civil liberties, even if only for terror suspects. Washington clearly isn't so worried about civil liberties for the rest of us. Lawmakers have steadily chipped away at our rights to a point that would have been unimaginable a decade ago.
The no-fly list can keep us off airplanes if we fall under suspicion for some reason. Authorities can rifle through our medical and financial records, secretly break into our homes, read our e-mail and listen to our phone conversations.
There's plenty of debate about whether the terrorist watch list is fair. But it's ridiculous that while so many rights are being curtailed, Public Enemy No. 1 on the terror list can walk into a gun store and buy anything in sight.
As the law now stands, licensed dealers can't sell weapons to illegal immigrants, felons, severely mentally ill people or those convicted of domestic violence.
Why aren't terror suspects on that list as well?
