No-Fly List

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Sit-Ins Pay Off For The Democrats

June 30, 2016 by 6 Comments

It was only last week that the House Democrats held an all-night sit-in the House chamber to protest in favor of gun control. We sadly saw a hero of the civil rights movement, Rep. John Lewis (R-GA), protesting in favor of actions that would actually curtail both 2nd and 5th Amendment guarantees. At the time, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) said the Democrats sit-in was nothing more than political theater and that the Constitution must be protected.

That was then and this is now.

According to the Washington Examiner, Ryan told the House Republican Conference that the House will vote next week on a package of measures including one that would use the no-fly list to deny firearms purchases.

The House will vote on an anti-terrorism measure next week that would prevent terror suspects from purchasing guns, House Speaker Paul Ryan told GOP lawmakers Thursday.


In a conference call with the House Republican conference, Ryan, R-Wis., outlined a plan to vote on a legislative package that responds to the recent terrorist shootings, including limiting access to firearms by those on federal terror watch lists.


“The terrorism package will include measures to disrupt radicalization and recruitment, and a provision to prevent suspected terrorists from buying guns,” a GOP aide said….


The move comes as Democrats threaten to continue “sit-in” demonstrations on the House floor until the GOP majority allows votes on two specific Democratic gun control measures. The demonstrations forced the House GOP to gavel out early for a week-long recess earlier this month.

You know what this means – time to start calling/emailing/faxing your Representative. You can find their webpages and phone numbers here.

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I Wish Sen. Collins Would Stick To Worrying About Lobsters

June 22, 2016 by 1 Comment

Sen. Susan Collins (RINO-ME) usually worries about important things like whether Maine lobsters are invading Europe. Now she and an unholy alliance of senators are introducing a “compromise” bill that allows the Attorney General to deny firearms purchases to anyone on the No-Fly List or the “Selectee” List. Their idea of due process is to allow you to appeal to the US Court of Appeals if denied, pay an attorney big bucks, and then, and only then, recover your attorneys fees if your appeal was successful.

The bill is entitled the Terrorist Firearms Prevention Act of 2016. I wonder if she considers the late Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) or Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) as terrorists as both ended up on the No-Fly List. If not for their positions in Congress they still might be on it. The bill is pitched as a compromise between the failed bills of Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA). While I didn’t like either of those bills, the Cornyn bill at least had some recognition of the 5th Amendment guarantee of due process. The ACLU, to their credit, didn’t like either bill.

Here is a summary of the bill as put out by Sen. Collins. Please notice item no. 4 which gives the Attorney General the power to approve a sale to someone on the list so as to not impede a FBI counter-terrorism investigation. Given that current Attorney General Loretta Lynch can’t even say the word “Muslim terrorist”, what’s to say that all terrorists won’t be OK’ed as a matter of policy. As we saw during Project Gunwalker, most of those firearms are still in the hands of the cartels.

Terrorist Firearms Prevention Act of 2016

Sponsor: U.S. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME)

Cosponsors: U.S. Senators Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND); Kelly Ayotte (R-NH); Martin Heinrich (DNM);
Jeff Flake (R-AZ); Tim Kaine (D-VA); Lindsey Graham (R-SC); Angus King (I-ME); Bill
Nelson (D-FL); Joe Manchin (D-WV); Tammy Baldwin (D-WI); and Mark Kirk (R-IL)

The bipartisan “Terrorist Firearms Prevention Act of 2016” would prevent people who are on the No Fly
List or the Selectee List from purchasing firearms. If our government has determined that an individual is
too dangerous to fly on an airplane, that person should not have the opportunity make a legal firearm
purchase. Due process principles require that Americans denied their right to purchase a firearm under
this provision have the opportunity to appeal this denial to a federal court.

What the Amendment Does:


1. Gives the AG the authority to deny firearms sales to individuals who appear on the No Fly List or the
Selectee List.
2. Provides a process for Americans and green card holders to appeal a denial in U.S. Court of Appeals
and to recover their reasonable attorneys fees if they prevail.
3. Sets forth a procedure for protecting classified information during the appeal.
4. Protects ongoing FBI counter-terrorism investigations by giving the AG the discretion to allow gun
sales to go forward to individuals covered by this Act.
5. Includes a “look-back” provision that ensures prompt notification to the FBI if a person who has been
on the broader Terrorism Screening Database (TSDB) within the past five years purchases a firearm.


How It Works: The TSDB is the broad consolidated watch list comprised of several more narrow threat
databases that various government entities maintain. The No Fly List is a subset that precludes an
individual from boarding a commercial aircraft that departs in, arrives from, or flies over the United
States. The Selectee List is used to identify individuals who require additional screening.

Individuals on the narrower No Fly and Selectee lists would not be allowed to purchase guns, but
Americans and green card holders would have due process rights to appeal in the Court of Appeals
following a proscribed procedure. The AG would have the burden of proof, and the court would be
required to make a decision in 14 days.

Classified information would be reviewed by the court following procedures similar to those in the
Classified Information Procedures Act used for criminal proceedings. In cases where the classified
information is relied upon, the court would have a range of options to protect the information while fully
ensuring due process. These options range from providing an unclassified summary to disclosing some or
all of the classified information.

To ensure appropriate oversight and transparency, the Attorney General would be required to report to the
Intelligence and Judiciary Committees of the House and Senate on the number of persons denied a
firearm, the number of appeals filed, and number of persons who prevailed in their appeals under the
provisions of this Act.

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GRNC On Anti-Gun Bills Looming

June 19, 2016 by

Grass Roots North Carolina sent out this alert yesterday. It is asking that people contact their Federal representatives to oppose any of these measures.

I agree with GRNC that it is disappointing that NC Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Roy Cooper (D-NC) is calling for the no-fly list gun ban. You would think that after 16 years as the state’s attorney general he would have at least a little appreciation for due process. However, he must feel that it is politically expedient to ignore constitutional rights.

ANTI-GUN MEASURES LOOM
AFTER TERRORIST ATTACK
The Battle is Not Over! Weak politicians continue to teeter on your gun rights. . .
Even after a massive outcry from law-abiding Americans demanding that Congress respect their rights, and instead take effective steps to stop terrorism, many US Congressmen and Senators appear ready to cave to dangerous political correctness. Many politicians continue to indicate that they might support new legislation, or a return to failed legislation, such as the prior Clinton assault weapons ban laws.  Those laws were repealed because they did nothing to reduce gun crime, and they infringed on the rights of the citizenry.
U.S. Legislators Cannot be Trusted

Senators Schumer, Feinstein and other anti-gun elected officials will still be pushing anti-gun bills and amendments this coming week in the U.S. Congress!  


Roy Cooper Joins the Gun Control Frenzy

If there has ever been a time when Americans need to be prepared to protect themselves and their families from the unexpected and unthinkable, this is the time! 

Yet, even after the horrific event in Orlando, there’s now talk of a “No Buy List” and Trump and GOP Lawmakers in Washington are opening the door to restricting gun buys for those on a watch list. The problem is that you can be put on the Watch List without ever knowing it and once you’re on there you’ll find it almost impossible to get off the list.Mitch McConnell is opening the door to this as well. He’s announced that the GOP is “open to keeping guns from terrorists” but we have to be careful that sloppy legislation rushed through to appease the anti gun nuts doesn’t restrict the rights of law abiding gun owners. Appeasing noisy protesting anti gun nuts will do nothing to make us safer. 

IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED!
  • PHONE YOUR SENATORS AND YOUR REPRESENTATIVE using:202-224-3121.

  • EMAIL YOUR SENATORS AND YOUR REPRESENTATIVE Use the links below, which will connect you to their contact web forms. You can use the copy/paste message under ‘Deliver This Message.’

  • Please contact other gun owners to tell them this threat is real, and ask them to take action as well.

U.S. Senate
Senator Richard Burr (R- NC)
Senator Thom Tillis (R- NC)
U.S. House of Representatives
Representative G. K. Butterfield, Jr. (D – 01)
Representative Renee L. Ellmers (R – 02)
Representative Walter B. Jones, Jr. (R – 03)
Representative David Price (D – 04)
Representative Virginia Foxx (R – 05)
Representative Mark Walker (R – 06)
Representative David Rouzer (R – 07)
Representative Richard Hudson (R – 08)
Representative Robert Pittenger (R – 09)
Representative Patrick McHenry (R – 10)
Representative Mark Meadows (R – 11)
Representative Alma Adams (D – 12)
Representative George Holding (R – 13)

DELIVER THIS MESSAGE
Suggested Subject: “ No Gun Control for Law-abiding Voters in Wake of Terrorist Attack!” 


Dear (Congressman or Senator):

Many members of the House and the Senate are weakening their previously stated strong promises to gun owners that they will not sponsor or vote for any legislation that would weaken the 2nd Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens. I’m writing you to insist that you not co-sponsor or vote for any knee jerk legislation that is now being suggested in the wake of the Orlando tragedy.

Blaming law-abiding gun owners is wrong. Instead of fixing blame I want you to fix the problem and make Obama answer for his complete failure in the war on terror. The introduction of any legislation to restrict our 2nd Amendment Rights is a depraved attempt to politicize a tragedy that will result in destroying our freedom.

I will be monitoring your actions on this topic through legislative alerts from Grass Roots North Carolina.


Respectfully, 

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Julie Nails It

June 17, 2016 by 4 Comments

Libertarian comedienne Julie Borowski with her squeaky little voice and innocent, confused looks nails it in this video. This is especially true given the statement from Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) that “due process is what’s killing us right now”.

Due process is and will remain important so long as we as a country remain faithful to the Constitution. Once due process goes we might just as well have just remained colonies under the British Crown.

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Setting The Hook

December 15, 2015 by 4 Comments

Watching Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) questioning a governmental official is a thing of beauty. It is like watching a master angler letting the fish nibble the bait and then suddenly setting the hook. The fish is hooked and wondering just what the heck just happened.

This past Thursday, the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee’s Subcommittee on National Security held a hearing on “Terrorism and the Visa Waiver Program”. The lead witness was Kelli Ann Burriesci, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security. She heads the Screening Coordination Office. Part of her office’s job is to facilitate transfer of information from the FBI’s Terrorist Screening Database to the TSA’s No-Fly List.

The video below shows Gowdy questioning Burriesci. The first two minutes are setting the stage for Gowdy’s question where he sets the hook. That question is at 2:50 in the video. While excerpts of this questioning are out there, I think it is instructional to watch Gowdy’s questioning before he begins to set the hook.

Gowdy’s key question is “Let me ask you another question about the terrorism list, what process is afforded a U.S. citizen before they go on that list?”

Burriesci’s answer is that there is no process afforded a citizen before they are put on the list but only a process after they get on the list. This is just the answer Gowdy wanted and as a prosecutor in a prior life he knew he was going to get it.

It only gets better after that.

Gowdy’s point, of course, is that the denial of due process with regard to an enumerated right such as the Second Amendment is, by its very nature, unconstitutional.

Those who would use the No-Fly list, the Terror Watch List, or the FBI’s omnibus Terrorist Screening Database as the basis to deny a citizen’s rights under the Second Amendment – or any civil right for that matter – are playing a dangerous game. That many Democrats and gun prohibitionists are doing it to score political points makes it unconscionable.