WASHINGTON (AP) - More than 40 terror suspects on federal watch lists were allowed to buy firearms in the United States last year because background checks found no reason to stop them, says a government report released Tuesday.
| 40 "suspects" vs the millions of "non-suspect" buyers isn't bad. |
Under current law, belonging to a suspected terrorist organization does not prohibit a person from owning a gun, the Government Accountability Office noted in its study. | Note that they refer to "suspected terrorist organizations" without giving any examples or saying if they are domestic or international. |
The GAO recommended that the attorney general clarify procedures to ensure that information from gun purchase background checks is shared with counterterrorism officials and that the FBI should either monitor such checks more frequently or oversee all checks related to terror suspects. | That's tricky, if you flag a suspects file, and he get's turned down when making a gun purchase, then he knows he's a suspect. You don't want to let them know they're under observation. |
The report showed that from Feb. 3 through June 20, 2004, 35 known or suspected terrorists purchased guns in the United States. From July 1 to Oct. 31 last year, 12 more suspected or known terrorists were allowed to buy firearms. | Excuse me, if they are "known terrorists", why are they walking the streets? And just like "known criminals", they should not have gotten the ok to make a purchase. Or are we talking about known terrorists under close observation that we don't want to alert? In which case you have to let them make the purchase to keep from blowing the case. |
It said that background checks on these individuals did not provide any prohibiting information such as felony convictions or illegal immigrant status. | So they were legal purchases by legal citizens who haven't broken any laws? So, what's your point here? |
Currently, records related to gun purchases must be destroyed within 24 hours as mandated by Congress last year. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., who requested the GAO study, planned to introduce a bill Tuesday to require the Justice Department to keep records of such transactions for 10 years. "When the Justice Department destroys these records in 24 hours, they are essentially aiding and abetting terrorist organizations," Lautenberg said. "It's time to end this nonsensical and dangerous policy."
| Dimmocrat want's a national database of all gun owners and is trying to play the terrorist card |
Peter Hamm, spokesman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said the American people should pay attention to the GAO report. | Why did I know they'd turn up |
"For the last four years, the Bush White House and Republican leaders in Congress have been pursuing gun policies that are on the wish list of the National Rifle Association despite repeated warnings form law enforcement leaders," Hamm said. "These policies benefit terrorists and benefit criminals." | I'm sure he considers the NRA as a terrorist organization, maybe those are the people on the watch list |
The NRA did not immediately comment on the report. | Hey Peter, how's this for a comment; "When you pry it from my cold dead hands!" |
| UPDATE: The GAO has now posted the report on their website. Highlights of the report here. Full report here. Just as I thought, it's a classified internal FBI watch list that includes thousands of terrorism suspects, many of them being monitored or sought for questioning in investigations of Islamic-based, militia-style and other groups. Which, of course, can't be looked at or questioned. |
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