Thursday, May 6, 2010

Republican Senators Refuse To Close "Terror Gap," Want To Deny Miranda Rights To American Citizens

New York Governor Michael Bloomberg took a trip to Washington to try and pursuade congress to close what he calls a "terror gap," which is the ability for those suspected of terrorism to purchase firearms. The two GOP senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Lindsay Graham of South Carolina, disagreed, believing it was not what the founding fathers intended and that restricting suspected terrorists' rights to purchase guns would be a violation of the Second Amendment. A bill sponsored by Sen. Frank Lautenberg would close the "gap."
Admitting that "at first blush" the bill "seems to be an obvious step that we should take," Collins said that many people on the FBI's watchlist don't belong there. "None of us wants a terrorist to be able to purchase a gun, but neither should we want to infringe upon a Constitutional right of law-abiding Americans," [Collins] said.

Graham described the bill as an instrument of those who would ban guns altogether. "We're talking about a constitutional right here," he said, explaining that he could not support a bill that would force "innocent Americans" to "pay the cost of going to court to get their gun rights back."
Interestingly enough, the constitutional champion, Senator Graham, had no problem stripping away rights from those accused of terrorism, criticizing the Mirandizing of terrorist suspects such as the recent Times Square bomber Faisal Shahzad. "I am all into national security," he said. "I want them to stop reading these guys Miranda rights."

I guess it is okay to supply these guys with the tools they need to commit an act of terrorism, but watch out, because once they do, the GOP will strip them of their rights, torture them for some information, and then detain them indefinitely.

"Even if you're an American citizen helping the enemy, you should be seen as a potential enemy," Graham added.

Bloomberg's response to the permitting of suspected terrorists to purchase weapons: "Our founding fathers did not write the Second Amendment to empower people who wanted to terrorize a free state; they wrote it to protect people who could defend 'the security of a free state.' Today, the security of our free state is being tested by terrorists."

I agree with Bloomberg. If you are deemed a flight threat, or the government has good reason to believe you intend to terrorize the nation, then certain restrictions should be put in place.

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