The truth about gun sales to terrorists

Mere suspicion doesn’t warrant violating rights

Months before he loaded his SUV with propane tanks and fireworks and drove to Times Square, police say, Faisal Shahzad went to a firearms store and bought a rifle. It was found in his other car at JFK International Airport, where his name showed up on the no-fly list in time to keep him from escaping.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., is one of many people bewildered that a suspected terrorist can be barred from flying but not from purchasing a gun. It “defies common sense,” he says, that “the rights of terrorists are placed above the safety of everyday Americans.”

Well, not exactly. Anyone convicted of terrorism has no right to buy a gun, since felons are barred under federal law. And Lautenberg neglects to mention that in denying constitutional rights to people merely suspected of dangerous connections, he would deny rights to lots of peaceable “everyday Americans.”

His bill, the subject of a recent Senate hearing, gives the attorney general the power to block gun sales to anyone the government suspects of being a terrorist. Never mind the obstacle known as the Second Amendment, which according to the U.S. Supreme Court protects an individual right to own guns for personal use.

Someone arrested, tried and found guilty of a crime loses that particular freedom. But Lautenberg’s bill would strip the right from many people without forcing the government to show they’ve done anything wrong.-[source]