Terrorists right to bear arms
Terrorists and their right to guns. If you were reading the NY Times this morning, you may have noticed this article. I hope you did. Evidentially, dozens of terror suspects on federal watch lists were allowed to buy firearms illegally in the US last year. Amazingly, people suspected of being members of a terrorist group are not automatically barred from purchasing an uzi in this country. The FBI reports that since February 2004 to October 2004 there were at least 58 times were people suspected by the FBI attempted to buy guns. In all but 11 cases, the FBI or state officials who handled the requests allowed the application to proceed because a check of the would-be buyer (a suspected terrorist I might add) found no automatic disqualification, like being a felon.
Do you remember when the GOP-controlled Congress mandated last year that records of gun purchases must be destroyed within 24 hours? It was a gift to the pro-gun hurdling, who riddled the Bush campaign during 2004 with threats regarding ownership and privacy rights. Apparently it was also a gift to potential terrorists who may be lurking inside the United States. FBI officials maintain that they are hamstrung by this new policy and it serves to help terrorists cover their tracks.
So, let me get this right. We were told by the Bush administration that we had to pass the Patriot Act, an amazingly intrusive law that strips us of some of our civil liberties and gives law enforcement officials excessive powers including the right to examine my library records without probable cause. And why did we have to pass this act? According to Bush it was necessary to protect us from terrorists. I don't want to debate the merits of the act. I just find it a little ridiculous that while we're making that sacrifice Republican lawmakers made it easier for terrorists to buy guns in this country because of newly weakened gun laws. Why is one constitutional right less valuable than others?
Can you say hypocrisy?
Do you remember when the GOP-controlled Congress mandated last year that records of gun purchases must be destroyed within 24 hours? It was a gift to the pro-gun hurdling, who riddled the Bush campaign during 2004 with threats regarding ownership and privacy rights. Apparently it was also a gift to potential terrorists who may be lurking inside the United States. FBI officials maintain that they are hamstrung by this new policy and it serves to help terrorists cover their tracks.
So, let me get this right. We were told by the Bush administration that we had to pass the Patriot Act, an amazingly intrusive law that strips us of some of our civil liberties and gives law enforcement officials excessive powers including the right to examine my library records without probable cause. And why did we have to pass this act? According to Bush it was necessary to protect us from terrorists. I don't want to debate the merits of the act. I just find it a little ridiculous that while we're making that sacrifice Republican lawmakers made it easier for terrorists to buy guns in this country because of newly weakened gun laws. Why is one constitutional right less valuable than others?
Can you say hypocrisy?
posted by T. Hildebrandt at 5:09 PM
2 Comments:
Perhaps this is being a bit to picky, but it is an "uzi", not ooze, and also buying an automatic uzi is illegal. They do sell converted uzis that are semi-automatic, but an automatic uzi is illegal. Great blog though, I'm amazed you have time to do anything with it!
Also let me add that I agree with your conclusion- the hypocrisy is ridiculous. While you can probably guess my stance on gun ownership, I fully agree that when it comes to buying guns, strict measures need to be put in place when people want to purchase so that officials can double and triple check who is buying them, then keep detailed records of the transactions. This was nothing but a gift to the lobby.
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