If
the No-Fly list is bad for gun buyers, why is it good for people who want to
fly?
By
Will Collette
First,
full disclosure: I am a proud Democrat and a “strict constructionist” when it
comes to the Second Amendment of the Constitution.
I
believe the Second Amendment means what it says when it puts guns in the context
of “a well-regulated militia.” That is, if you are a member of the National
Guard, Reserves or the police, you have the right to bear arms.
For
everyone else, I believe the “right to bear arms” remains an open question and
one that different Supreme Courts have interpreted differently.
I
was proud to see the Democrats in the House stage a classic sit-in takeover to
force the failure of Congressional Republicans to get their heads out of the
NRA’s ass and listen to the American people who want sensible gun control,
starting with a ban on weapons purchases by persons listed on the federal “No
Fly” list.
I
was stunned to hear Republicans argue against using the No Fly, anti-terrorist
list –to restrict gun ownership as a “violation of people’s due process rights.”
The
No-Fly list is one of many anti-terror measures that THEY were largely responsible
for creating in the panic that followed the 9/11 attacks in 2001.
After
15 years, finally the Republicans are raising an issue that progressive have flagged
for years about this list and other secret measures (wiretaps, reading e-mails
of all Americans, etc.) taken post-9/11.
Republicans
are essentially saying that it’s a violation of due process to deny a person on
the terror watch list the right to buy an assault rifle and thousands of rounds
of ammo because it’s almost impossible to find out why you were placed on the
list and to have some legal means to get your name off the list.
But
for all other purposes, it’s OK for
the government to use secret lists and other means to surveil and curtail the
rights of all American citizens.
If the
Republicans really believe the No-Fly list is a bad thing, why aren’t they
talking about its repeal?
But
that’s just a silly debating point, you might say.
But
it is a more honest one than that used by House Speaker Paul Ryan and his
minions to say you can’t use the No-Fly list in this one single instance, gun
purchases, because it MIGHT violate the prospective gunman his due process
rights.
I
don’t want to distract from the vital question of what are we going to do NOW
about gun violence.
But
maybe we should thank Speaker Ryan for unintentionally drawing some overdue
civil liberties attention to the bad legislation that the US put into place
after 9/11. Maybe after they are done with their break, House Republicans will
want to take up those issues.
And
gun violence.