Senate Democrats are calling for the immediate passage of the gun control proposal that was defeated last year.
Sen. Chuck Schumer and three other anti-Second Amendment senators want to pass a bill that would prevent people on “terror watch lists” and “suspected terrorists” from purchasing firearms.
The Orlando shooter was not on any of these lists, but the Democrats never miss an opportunity to take advantage of a crisis. Reuters doesn’t bother to mention that the Orlando shooter was not on any list.
Schumer’s gun control posse includes the usual suspects, Senators Dianne Feinstein of California, Bill Nelson of Florida and Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.
What’s wrong with using secret government lists to stop people from purchasing firearms?
To begin with, these lists are not accurate. People have no idea they are on the list and there is no way to find out why you are on the list. A government bureaucrat can add your name for any reason. Do you worry this kind of “list” might be used for political retribution? I do.
The other major problem is that people on such lists have not been adjudicated guilty of any crime that would deprive them of their rights. What other rights ought the government deny without due process?
The Weekly Standard reported late last year that the Democrats blocked a bill that would require “probable cause” to deny a gun sale.
Under Republican legislation sponsored by Senator John Cornyn, the federal government may delay the sale of a firearm to someone on the watch list for up to 72 hours. During that time, if the government can show a judge there’s “probable cause”—the same legal standard used to obtain a search warrant—that the individual is plotting terrorism, then the gun sale is denied outright. The measure received 55 votes in the Senate. It secured the backing of staunch conservatives like Ted Cruz, Mike Lee, and Marco Rubio as well as moderate Republicans Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski and moderate Democrats Joe Manchin and Joe Donnelly. The only Republican to oppose it was Mark Kirk.
The article astutely points out that the GOP bill would put the burden on the government to establish cause, while the Democrats’ bill puts the burden on the citizen in a “guilty until proven innocent” situation — just the way the authoritarian left likes it.
Prepare for continuing anti-gun maneuvers by the left and the media as the investigation into the Orlando shooting continues.
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