Gun Control Bill Seeks to Close 'Terror Gap'

By Susan Jones | CNSNews.com Senior Editor
May 02, 2007

(CNSNews.com) - 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."