Alfonse D'Amato

Suspected terrorists shouldn’t be allowed to buy guns

Posted

Speaking about Thanksgiving weekend travel, President Obama warned jittery Americans to “be careful.” Somehow I don’t think that settled anyone’s nerves. We can do more, and it starts here at home.

Currently, federal law prohibits nine categories of what are considered dangerous people from purchasing or owning firearms. The list includes felons, fugitives, drug addicts and people accused of domestic abuse.

You know who’s not on the list? Suspected terrorists, who can purchase firearms legally. Friends, I wish I was kidding, but this is a sad truth. A significant loophole still allows people who are suspected of being involved in terrorist activities to buy guns in the U.S.

Back in 2007, the Bush administration drafted legislation that would have closed the terror gap and prevented suspected terrorists from easily buying guns. However, the National Rifle Association argued that “the watch list is too broad because it includes people who are still being investigated by authorities.”

Up until now, Congress has allowed that pathetic argument to work, but with the new threat posed by the Islamic State, and after Americans watched the horrific attack our friends in France endured, I strongly believe the law should change.

According to the Government Accountability Office, between 2004 and 2014, the FBI completed 2,233 background checks involving individuals on the watch list. Of those, only 190 people were declined access to firearms, meaning that 2,043 people — 91 percent of suspected terrorists — were permitted to purchase firearms.

With the increasing threat of homegrown terrorist activity, how could there possibly be a loophole that allows suspected terrorists to legally purchase guns? Long Island’s own Rep. Peter King, a Republican, and Sen. Diane Feinstein, a California Democrat, have reintroduced the Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act. The bill would gives the U.S. attorney general the discretion to deny or revoke a federal firearms license to a gun dealer who is known or suspected to be either providing weapons to be used to commit acts of terrorism or helping with that process.

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