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A Second Amendment group says Attorney General Alberto Gonzales should resign as the nation's highest ranking law enforcement officer, given his "troubling support" for a new gun control bill that seeks to close the "terror gap" in federal law.
S. 1237 would give the attorney general, a presidential appointee, the authority to suspend or cancel someone's Second Amendment right, even if that person has never been charged with a crime, the Second Amendment Foundation warned.
At the Justice Department's request, the bill was introduced last week by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), whom SAF describes as one of the most extreme anti-gunners in Congress.
The "Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act of 2007" would give the attorney general discretionary authority to deny the purchase of firearms (or the issuance of firearms and explosives licenses) to "known or suspected terrorists." The bill has been referred to Judiciary Committee.
The Second Amendment Foundation warned the bill would allow the attorney general to block gun sales "because of some vague suspicion that an American citizen may be up to no good."
SAF founder Alan Gottlieb said the bill "raises serious concerns about how someone becomes a 'suspected terrorist.' Nobody has explained how one gets their name on such a list, and worse, nobody knows how to get one's name off such a list."
There's also a larger concern, Gottlieb added: "When did we decide as a nation that it is a good idea to give a cabinet member the power to deny someone's constitutional right simply on suspicion, without a trial or anything approaching due process?"
Under the federal Brady Act, licensed firearm dealers must request background checks on all would-be gun buyers. The National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) is supposed to bar convicted felons and mentally unstable people from buying guns.
But Gonzales and Sen. Lautenberg worry that there is no provision to deny "suspected terrorists" from purchasing a gun.
In January 2005, the Government Accountability Office reported that during one five-month period (Feb. 3-June 30, 2004), people designated by the federal government as "known or suspected terrorists" tried to purchase a total of 44 firearms.
The GAO said in 35 cases, the FBI allowed the transactions to proceed because field agents were unable to find any disqualifying information as stipulated in the Brady Act.
In March 2005, Sen. Lautenberg asked Attorney General Gonzales and FBI Director Robert Mueller to look into the matter.
In response, the Justice Department created a working group that produced the recommendations on which Lautenberg's bill is based.
Lautenberg's website says his bill would deny gun purchases to "known or suspected terrorists" in cases where the attorney general "reasonably believes that the person may use a firearm or explosives in connection with terrorism."
Lautenberg said his bill includes "due process safeguards" that would allow people to challenge the attorney general's denial of a firearm purchase or license; and it would protect "the sensitive information upon which terrorist watch list listings are based."
Many Americans have complained about the secret government "watch lists" used to screen airline passengers.
"We're not surprised that General Gonzales has found an agreeable sponsor in Frank Lautenberg," Gottlieb said. "The senator from New Jersey has never seen a restrictive gun control scheme he did not immediately embrace, and S. 1237 is loaded with red flags.
"Attorney General Gonzales has no business asking for that kind of power over any tenet in the Bill of Rights," Gottlieb said. "He took an oath to uphold the Constitution, not trample it. Perhaps it is time for him to go."
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The National Rifle Association is urging the Bush administration to withdraw its support of a bill that would prohibit suspected terrorists from buying firearms. Backed by the Justice Department, the measure would give the attorney general the discretion to block gun sales, licenses or permits to terror suspects.
In a letter this week to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, NRA executive director Chris Cox said the bill, offered last week by Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., "would allow arbitrary denial of Second Amendment rights based on mere 'suspicions' of a terrorist threat."
"As many of our friends in law enforcement have rightly pointed out, the word 'suspect' has no legal meaning, particularly when it comes to denying constitutional liberties," Cox wrote.
In a letter supporting the measure, Acting Assistant Attorney General Richard Hertling said the bill would not automatically prevent a gun sale to a suspected terrorist. In some cases, federal agents may want to let a sale go forward to avoid compromising an ongoing investigation.
Hertling also notes there is a process to challenge denial of a sale.
Current law requires gun dealers to conduct a criminal background check and deny sales if a gun purchaser falls under a specified prohibition, including a felony conviction, domestic abuse conviction or illegal immigration. There is no legal basis to deny a sale if a purchaser is on a terror watch list.
"When I tell people that you can be on a terrorist watch list and still be allowed to buy as many guns as you want, they are shocked," said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which supports Lautenberg's bill.
In the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, lawmakers are considering a number of measures to strengthen gun sale laws. The NRA, which usually opposes increased restrictions on firearms, is taking different positions depending on the proposal.
"Right now law enforcement carefully monitors all firearms sales to those on the terror watch list," said NRA spokesman Andrew Arulanandam. "Injecting the attorney general into the process just politicizes it."
A 2005 study by the Government Accountability Office found that 35 of 44 firearm purchase attempts over a five-month period made by known or suspected terrorists were approved by the federal law enforcement officials.
Now, my question is: Is the Senator just playing Gun Control Politics, or is this a clever method to make the Republicans eat Gonzales and his cronies alive?
Half-Damned, All Hero.
Tev: You're happy. You're Plotting. You're Evil.
Me: Evil is so inappropriate. I'm ruthless.
Tev: You're turning me on.
I Am Rage. You Will Know My Fury.
