by Joseph P. Tartaro
Executive Editor
In an Apr. 30 letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, the National Rifle Association (NRA) expressed its opposition to S-1237, legislation supported by the Department of Justice (DOJ) that would deny gun buyers approval if their names appear on the government’s secret terrorist suspect “watch lists.”
The DOJ had approved legislation on Apr. 26 introduced by Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) that would give the attorney general discretionary power to bar terrorism suspects from buying firearms, seeking to close what Lautenberg’s office calls the “terror gap.”
According to The New York Times, Lautenberg’s bill would give the attorney general authority to deny or proceed through the National Instant Check System (NICS) a firearm purchase if the prospective buyer was found “to be or have been engaged in conduct constituting, in preparation for, in aid of, or related to terrorism.”
The NRA letter, signed by Chris Cox, executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action, stressed the association’s support for the global war on terrorism but its opposition to the “arbitrary denial of Second Amendment rights based on mere ‘suspicions’ of a terrorist threat.”
The controversial and often flawed terrorist “watch” and “no fly” lists are secret documents and often contain errors and the names of people who are unlikely suspects, such as Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-MA), and others denied opportunities to board airliners. No citizen knows whether or not his or her name is on such a list, and the government process for compiling the lists appears far from foolproof.
“As DOJ’s letter in support of the draft bill makes clear, federal agents may want to allow some firearms sales to go forward in order to place a suspect under close surveillance without tipping him or her off,” Cox’s letter noted. “We have no problem with that legitimate investigative tactic. But where the prospective buyer poses such a danger that a firearm sale should be denied, that person should be arrested, prosecuted and, if found guilty, imprisoned.”
The Times story made note of an earlier General Accounting Office (GAO) report that claimed people on federal watch lists can now legally buy firearms in the United States if background checks do not turn up any standard prohibitions for gun buyers, which include felony convictions, illegal immigration status or involuntary commitments for mental illness.
But since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, local law enforcement officials and gun control advocates have raised concerns that terrorists might exploit what they describe as “loopholes” to buy firearms. What are described as “loopholes” appear to be any person who already does not fall into one of the nine categories of prohibited persons as defined in federal gun laws.
The Times claimed that John Ashcroft, the former attorney general and a staunch supporter of gun rights, blocked the FBI from comparing federal gun-buying records against a list of suspects detained as part of the investigation into the Sept. 11 attacks. Ashcroft cited the Brady gun law, which sets out the federal system for background checks, arguing that it prohibited sharing such information for other law enforcement purposes.
In 2004, the FBI instituted a new system that alerted counterterrorism officials when a terrorism suspect tried to buy a gun, giving them three days to find information to disqualify the suspect under the standard federal prohibitions. If the transaction was approved, details like the type of firearm and the place of purchase could not be shared. But if the purchase was blocked, the information could be turned over.
Lautenberg had introduced similar legislation in the 109th Congress, but it stalled and never gained any traction in the Republican-controlled Senate or House. His aides said that they believed things would turn out differently with backing from the Bush Administration and with a Democratic majority in Congress.
After the GAO report, the Justice Department created a study group on the issue. Nearly two years later, after repeated inquiries from lawmakers, Richard A. Hertling, acting assistant attorney general, wrote to Lautenberg in February saying that steps had been taken to address certain concerns, including encouraging investigators to visit gun dealers and review firearms applications every time a terrorism suspect was flagged trying to buy a weapon.