Have you ever tried to buy a hand gun? I haven’t, but I understand there is a laundry list of items that can bar you from legally obtaining a permit during your background check. According to the Department of Justice website, you are prohibited from purchasing a gun if the person:

- is under indictment for, or has been convicted of, a crime punishable by imprisonment for more than 1 year
- is a fugitive from justice
- is an unlawful user of, or addicted to, a controlled substance
- has been adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental institution
- is an illegal alien or has been admitted to the U.S. under a nonimmigrant visa
- was dishonorably discharged from the U.S. Armed Forces
- has renounced U.S. citizenship
- is subject to a court order restraining him or her from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or child
- has been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence
- is under age 18 for long guns or under age 21 for handguns.

What seems to be missing from this list, however, has become the subject of concern by Senator Frank Lautenberg. According to a recent Government Accountability Office report, 963 background checks were performed where the applicants name appeared on the national terrorist watch list. Lautenberg’s concern isn’t about these individuals applied for a permit, but that over 90% of the applicants were approved.

The national terrorist watch list, also known as the No Fly List, was created following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. The names on the list represent people who are deemed to be aiding in or have participated in terroristic activities. So why would someone on the list be able to obtain a permit? This is where the issue gets cloudy.

The watch list isn’t perfect, and has grown exponentially over the short few years. What started out with just a few hundred names at the end of 2001 has grown to over 500,000 by some estimated. Additionally, there has been a series of obvious “false positives” on the list, where innocent people have been identified as a security risk. One of the false positives was sitting Senator Ted Kennedy. In 2004, he complained to Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge about being delayed due to his name showing up on the list. A few other sitting and former politicians as well as celebrities have found themselves in similar positions.

So what action, if any, should be taken on this issue? Personally, I think the background system should not include screening against the terror watch list as a prerequisite to obtaining a permit. Unlike the search of a person’s criminal background based on their social security number, the risk of an innocent person being denied the right to practice their Second Amendment right due to the fact their name might match up with an alias of another person is too great to be used as a practical screening process. Additionally, even if the person is rightfully suspected of having dealings with terrorists, if the person hasn’t broken the law, they should not be denied. “Innocent until proven guilty” is the corner stone of our legal system

Related articles:
The Washington Independent – “Gun Lobby Questions Accuracy of Terrorist Watch List”
CNN – “People on terrorist watch list allowed to buy guns”
Associated Press – “More than 800 gun buyers on terrorist watch list”
Google News – “People on ‘terror watch’ list able to buy guns: US”

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