"No Fly, No Buy"
Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2016 7:32 pmhttp://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/23/us/po ... .html?_r=0
House Dems are currently staging a sit-in until Paul Ryan allows a vote on some gun control bills.
The one I want to focus on here is the so-called "No Fly, No Buy" bill, which would prevent people on the terrorist watch "No Fly List" from purchasing guns. The Democrats are framing this issue as Republicans refusing to stop "potential terrorists" from getting guns. But this is the same No Fly List which has, for over a decade, been wildly unaccountable and secretive, while banning people from boarding airplanes with no due process whatsoever. There isn't even a consensus as to how many people are on the list, but there are at least tens of thousands. The vast majority have not been convicted, or even accused, of any crime.
I don't know how any liberal can support the mere existence of this list, let alone broadening its function. This is unconstitutional. I want more gun regulation. I want universal background checks. But I do not want some secret list, which almost assuredly targets people of certain ethnicities and religions, being used to deny people their constitutional rights without any due process. Caught up in the hysteria about the gun debate, Democrats are re-opening this door with the No Fly List, inviting it to be used to take more rights from people. If they can force a vote on this gun issue, imagine what other rights it sets the precedent to take away with this unaccountable list, particularly with the current rise in Islamophobia around the country(If I wasn't clear enough before, I am 100% certain that it's pretty easy to get on this list for no particular reason if you're Muslim or Arab, especially if you're an immigrant).
How has the left done such an about face on this tyrannical watch list which I can distinctly remember being a major point of contention not too long ago?
House Dems are currently staging a sit-in until Paul Ryan allows a vote on some gun control bills.
The one I want to focus on here is the so-called "No Fly, No Buy" bill, which would prevent people on the terrorist watch "No Fly List" from purchasing guns. The Democrats are framing this issue as Republicans refusing to stop "potential terrorists" from getting guns. But this is the same No Fly List which has, for over a decade, been wildly unaccountable and secretive, while banning people from boarding airplanes with no due process whatsoever. There isn't even a consensus as to how many people are on the list, but there are at least tens of thousands. The vast majority have not been convicted, or even accused, of any crime.
I don't know how any liberal can support the mere existence of this list, let alone broadening its function. This is unconstitutional. I want more gun regulation. I want universal background checks. But I do not want some secret list, which almost assuredly targets people of certain ethnicities and religions, being used to deny people their constitutional rights without any due process. Caught up in the hysteria about the gun debate, Democrats are re-opening this door with the No Fly List, inviting it to be used to take more rights from people. If they can force a vote on this gun issue, imagine what other rights it sets the precedent to take away with this unaccountable list, particularly with the current rise in Islamophobia around the country(If I wasn't clear enough before, I am 100% certain that it's pretty easy to get on this list for no particular reason if you're Muslim or Arab, especially if you're an immigrant).
How has the left done such an about face on this tyrannical watch list which I can distinctly remember being a major point of contention not too long ago?