shooterx10
03-08-2005, 12:07 PM
Oh boy! Look out for more anti-gun bills to defecate from the anti-gun bigots! http://www.calguns.net/banghead.gif Watch them equate gun owners as "terrorists!" Oh I forgot, they already do! http://calguns.net/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_mad.gif
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Report: U.S. Terrorism List Suspects Bought Guns
By Sue Pleming
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Dozens of terror suspects on U.S. watch lists got government approval to buy guns legally in the United States last year, according to a congressional investigation released Tuesday.
The Government Accountability Office report said people associated with terrorist groups had taken advantage of loopholes in U.S. gun laws that do not automatically bar a person belonging to such a group from buying a gun.
It urged the Federal Bureau of Investigation to "better manage" background checks for people wanting to buy guns and recommended the attorney general clarify procedures for doing this and strengthen oversight of such purchases.
"Proper management of firearm-related background checks involving valid matches with terrorist watch list records is important," said the study by the GAO, a nonpartisan investigative body of Congress.
People in the United States who buy guns from dealers have to have a background check before being allowed to purchase the weapon. Their names are checked to see whether they have disqualifying factors such as felony convictions or mental illness, or are illegal immigrants.
The GAO said it reviewed 44 gun-related background checks done by the FBI and other state agencies from Feb. 3 to June 30, 2004, which had resulted in valid matches with terrorist watch list records.
Of these people on terror lists trying to buy guns, the report said 35 sales were allowed to go ahead because the background checks found no disqualifying information that would bar the purchases.
Authorities got an additional 14 gun applications from terrorism suspects in the four months after the study ended and all but two were cleared to proceed, the report said.
While the report did not name the suspected terrorist groups represented by the gun buyers, al Qaeda and other groups linked to it as well as other militant groups are on the government watch lists.
PRIVACY CONCERNS
FBI officials have long complained they are hindered by laws that restrict the use of gun-buying records due to concerns over gun owners' privacy rights, which are forcefully lobbied by the powerful National Rifle Association.
Gun control advocates argue that current gun laws endanger Americans by giving suspected terrorists an opportunity to evade scrutiny while obtaining weapons.
"We have been trying to warn the public that the policies of the current administration and some of the legislation passed by Congress is going completely 180 degrees in the wrong direction when it comes to preventing terrorists from arming themselves," said Peter Hamm, communications director for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
Hamm said his organization had proposed a number of ways of closing loopholes but these had been ignored in favor of arguments put forward by the NRA.
"They have tried to keep the NRA happy and in doing so are helping the terrorists to arm themselves," said Hamm whose group is named after James Brady, the White House press secretary wounded in the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.
Last year's failure by Congress to renew a 10-year ban on importing or manufacturing certain military-style assault weapons was seen as a victory for the NRA.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to questions about the report but said in a written response to the GAO that it would revise some of its procedures and was looking into more frequent FBI oversight checks of gun records involving people on terrorism watch lists.
The NRA said it would respond later to the GAO report.
Here is the link. (http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=ne-us-12-l8&flok=FF-RTO-rontz&idq=/ff/story/0002%2F20050308%2F1215664379.htm&sc=rontz)
------------------------------
Report: U.S. Terrorism List Suspects Bought Guns
By Sue Pleming
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Dozens of terror suspects on U.S. watch lists got government approval to buy guns legally in the United States last year, according to a congressional investigation released Tuesday.
The Government Accountability Office report said people associated with terrorist groups had taken advantage of loopholes in U.S. gun laws that do not automatically bar a person belonging to such a group from buying a gun.
It urged the Federal Bureau of Investigation to "better manage" background checks for people wanting to buy guns and recommended the attorney general clarify procedures for doing this and strengthen oversight of such purchases.
"Proper management of firearm-related background checks involving valid matches with terrorist watch list records is important," said the study by the GAO, a nonpartisan investigative body of Congress.
People in the United States who buy guns from dealers have to have a background check before being allowed to purchase the weapon. Their names are checked to see whether they have disqualifying factors such as felony convictions or mental illness, or are illegal immigrants.
The GAO said it reviewed 44 gun-related background checks done by the FBI and other state agencies from Feb. 3 to June 30, 2004, which had resulted in valid matches with terrorist watch list records.
Of these people on terror lists trying to buy guns, the report said 35 sales were allowed to go ahead because the background checks found no disqualifying information that would bar the purchases.
Authorities got an additional 14 gun applications from terrorism suspects in the four months after the study ended and all but two were cleared to proceed, the report said.
While the report did not name the suspected terrorist groups represented by the gun buyers, al Qaeda and other groups linked to it as well as other militant groups are on the government watch lists.
PRIVACY CONCERNS
FBI officials have long complained they are hindered by laws that restrict the use of gun-buying records due to concerns over gun owners' privacy rights, which are forcefully lobbied by the powerful National Rifle Association.
Gun control advocates argue that current gun laws endanger Americans by giving suspected terrorists an opportunity to evade scrutiny while obtaining weapons.
"We have been trying to warn the public that the policies of the current administration and some of the legislation passed by Congress is going completely 180 degrees in the wrong direction when it comes to preventing terrorists from arming themselves," said Peter Hamm, communications director for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
Hamm said his organization had proposed a number of ways of closing loopholes but these had been ignored in favor of arguments put forward by the NRA.
"They have tried to keep the NRA happy and in doing so are helping the terrorists to arm themselves," said Hamm whose group is named after James Brady, the White House press secretary wounded in the 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan.
Last year's failure by Congress to renew a 10-year ban on importing or manufacturing certain military-style assault weapons was seen as a victory for the NRA.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to questions about the report but said in a written response to the GAO that it would revise some of its procedures and was looking into more frequent FBI oversight checks of gun records involving people on terrorism watch lists.
The NRA said it would respond later to the GAO report.
Here is the link. (http://cnn.netscape.cnn.com/news/story.jsp?floc=ne-us-12-l8&flok=FF-RTO-rontz&idq=/ff/story/0002%2F20050308%2F1215664379.htm&sc=rontz)