Constitution No Hindrance to ‘Watch List’ Gun Bans Says ACLU

by / on December 9, 2015 at 6:01 am /

gunsIt may not stick up for your child’s right to pray over his or her lunch at the school cafeteria or jump to your defense if you want to put up a cross anywhere other than your basement bunker. But the ALCU sees no constitutional bar when it comes to banning guns for people on government watch lists.

That’s right. The “Anti-Christian-Liberties-Union” sees no problem with depriving people on U.S. terrorism watch lists of their constitutional rights. Just as long as the watch lists are informed first.

“There is no constitutional bar to reasonable regulation of guns, and the No Fly List could serve as one tool for it, but only with major reform,” said Hina Shamsi, director of ACLU’s National Security Project, said via email.

Reports the Washington Free Beacon:

The group estimates that as many as a million people are currently on federal terrorism watch lists, including the smaller no-fly list. It is currently suing the Department of Justice over claims that the criteria for inclusion on the no-fly list is vague and overbroad, and “that the inadequate redress process for people on the list violates the Constitution’s guarantee of due process.”

Those complaints are similar to criticism of Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s (D., Calif.) legislation last week. Republicans said it would deprive Americans of their constitutional right to bear arms without due process.

Woodrow Wilcox

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According to the FBI, there were about 8,400 American citizens and legal permanent residents on terrorism watch lists in 2011.

Congress recently voted down legislation prohibiting those on terrorism watch lists from buying firearms. President Obama supported the effort in his Sunday night lecture from the Oval Office. When he plans to support efforts to wipe ISIS off the face of the earth remains unclear.

WoodrowWilcox.com

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Not to worry. You can sleep better at night knowing that the ACLU hasn’t taken a position on the legislation to restrict the Second Amendment rights of people on watch lists. When straight, Bible-believing, gun-toting, pro-life Americans wind up on the “domestic terrorist” list is open to question. As for Senator Feinstein, since when did she discover due process – or the Second Amendment?

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A multi-published author and recovering Democrat, Kristine Lowder is a native Californian recently transplanted to the People's Republic of Washington State. She still refuses to cede her life, fortune, or sacred honor to liberal Nazgul or anyone else with poor eyesight. Kristine is a graduate of Biola University. You can find her online at: Kristine Lowder, Writer or at Conservelocity.
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  • franklinb23

    Wait a minute …. what?

    I actually think it’s reasonable to not sell guns to people on government watch lists, but I think many Republicans opposed this effort (including Paul Ryan).

    I’m all for the 2nd amendment, and I think citizens have a right to own guns for hunting or self-defense, but recent parolees, people with mental health issues or those on government watch lists should probably have greater restrictions.

    • Thisoldspouse

      Who decides who gets put on a government watch list, though? Those with a political ax to grind? You bet they do!

      And leftists have been saying, increasingly, that anyone who is opposed to homosexuality has mental issues. Now, I realize that a lot of that talk is just empty invective, but the drumbeat is getting louder and louder with court decisions emboldening them, to the point that a state-level labor commissioner characterized forcing the homosexual world view on unwilling recipients as “rehabilitation!!!!

      • Yeah, that’s the rub with trying to keep the American people safe…when its own culture is dominated by evil and its leaders are evil. How do you protect a people from evil when evil people are in charge?

        Even if the evil leaders will protect you from one form of evil, the powers you give them to do that may very well be used by them to turn around and do harm to you in a different way.

        It’s no wonder that Benjamin Franklin said that only a virtuous people are capable of freedom.

      • DCM7

        It’s common for those having “leftist” viewpoints to claim that anyone who disagrees with them on any topic of substance must have “mental issues.” This, of course, is a nice, convenient way around the fact that they cannot defend their positions rationally.