Rep. Carolyn McCarthy must know the no-fly list is
a due process nightmare. So why does she want to
use it to deny gun rights? (Official portrait)
The federal government's "no-fly" list of people forbidden to board commercial airliners has been the target of much-deserved criticism. Court documents reveal that the grounds for placing people on the list are "not hard and fast rules" but "necessarily subjective" judgments exercised by squabbling agencies. Getting off the list requires navigating an opaque and reluctantly implemented appeals process or a lawsuit. Even the size of the no-fly list is uncertain, with the Transportation Security Administration insisting that high estimates result from people being denied boarding because they've been confused with names on the list (a distinction without a difference). And now enrollment on that bureaucratic nightmare is poised to become grounds for denying Americans the ability to purchase firearms.
What could possibly go wrong with that scheme?
Would-be gun-owners may be introduced to the arbitrary justice of the no-fly list courtesy of H.R. 2401, the "No Fly, No Buy Act of 2009." Introduced last week by Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, the announced intention of the legislation is "[t]o increase public safety and reduce the threat to domestic security by including persons who may be prevented from boarding an aircraft in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, and for other purposes."
As Rep. McCarthy puts it in a press release:
The No Fly, No Buy Act uses existing TSA data to update the NICS system with the names of known or suspected terrorists to disqualify them from passing the Brady Background Check.
Rep. McCarthy was elected to Congress on a wave of sympathy over the murder of her husband and injury of her son during a mass murder on the Long Island Railroad. She has dedicated her career to a seemingly obsessive effort to restrict legal access to firearms by civilians (but not by government officials). Her sponsorship of H.R. 2401 adds fuel to charges that McCarthy's hostility to private firearms ownership overrides any concerns she might have about due process or simple justice.
To illustrate just how arbitrary and dangerous inclusion on the no-fly list can be, it's worth looking at revelations from just last fall that Maryland state troopers monitored antiwar protesters and other political activists and included their names on terrorist watch lists. That means people exercising fundamental First Amendment rights were listed as potential terrorists and put in the position of being denied the right to travel by air, among other serious consequences.
With regards to the creation of the list, former FBI agent Jack Cloonan told 60 Minutes:
"I know in our particular case they basically did a massive data dump and said 'Ok anybody that’s got a nexus to terrorism, let’s make sure they get on the list. And once that train left the station, or once that bullet went down range. There was no calling it back. And that is where we are."
The poor quality of the no-fly list, the arbitrary nature of the inclusion of names on the list and its impact on innocent people is no secret, having been covered by mainstream media and litigated in the courts for the past half decade plus. Rep. Carolyn McCarthy and co-sponsor Rep. Steve Israel, both of New York, can't claim that they don't know that the no-fly list is a civil liberties nightmare that serves only to seriously inconvenience people, violate rights and generate headline-grabbing news stories.
So it's fair to conclude that Rep. McCarthy has no problem with the arbitrary denial of individual rights, so long as such denial furthers her crusade against gun ownership.
email J.D.: civilliberties (at) tuccille.com
You might also enjoy these:
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- St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner: Denying rights without due process
- Gun Rights Examiner: It's 'The Carolyn McCarthy Show'
- Maryland troopers hit for spying on peaceful protesters
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Comments
There is no end to this woman's idiocy.
The woman isn't an idiot. She is a happy widow. She has enjoyed so much fame and fortune as a widow that she wants to help create other widows who might wish to share her elation at the deaths of their husbands.
Why would I say such a horrible thing? Ok, think about it. Her husband died because nobody on that train had the means of self-defense. The only armed man on that train was a maniac by the name of Colin Ferguson. Because of his unique status on that particular day on that particular train he had his way with all the innocent people he shot,maimed and killed.
But McCarthy, to her moral detriment, does not wish her husband could have defended himself or others, nor does she wish that others could have defended him. Rather, she wishes to enable more murderous maniacs to kill more innocents, thus creating more "Merry Widows".
That's why I can say that. She is happy her husband is dead and wants to share what she considers her good fortune.
I think I will send my defense of her intellectual prowess to her office. She should be happy to know I do not consider her an idiot.
If her husband had a firearm, or someone else on that train did, he may be alive and we would not have to listen to this idiot woman.
I do not have a problem with this. I think law abiding people have the right to a firearm but wackoos are another subject. Someone who is a threat to public safety should have to defend their right to own a firearm. Sorry, no middle ground on this.
This List is very foolish just last night at HAZMAT training one of our students at the age of 60 or so & our Safety Officer was put thru the check at a Air port because he was on the (List) hes a Hunter/ Trapper and all around good guy so why deny him Gun ownership because just because his name is in close comparison with anothers hes not a Domestic terroist I can Guarantee that......This System is only based on pure fear & stupidity Guess work is what it amounts to, Myself i would Guard my enemys back if told to, because I'm american Heart and soul but Im a Gun Owner/Hunter/Shooter & dang if your going to take my Freedom away from me of Gun ownership....I'm American and firm believer in the 2nd Amenmont < See my Spelling Amen....
Charles,
The "whackoos" you refer to are usually not law abiding citizens who have obtained their guns through the legal channels. Their guns are obtained illegally and are not registered to them.
So...law abiding citizens being denied the right to be armed for their own protection or the protection of someone, such as a child, who is with them is not the way to stop the "whackoos". Armed, law abiding citizens are able to defend themselves and others if they are permitted to own/carry their guns.
And it IS our Constitutional right to do so....so far and as far as I'm concerned, I will fight losing that right until I die...and don't worry, I'm not suggesting that I would use "violence" to fight to keep that right...I'm a law abiding citizen of the United States...a country I love and I believe in acomplishing things in the proper legal manner. Like voting these nut job liberal gun hating "politicians" OUT in 2010.
If this passes, I am changing my name to Carolyn McCarthy. Everyone else should too. Can you imagine the next time she tries to fly and she's linked to thousands of others, some of whom ended up on the list because they were at an anti-government rally?
There are three types of people in the world.
There are the sheep, who live in denial of any type of threat.
There are the wolves, which prey on the sheep without any compassion or mercy.
And then there are the sheepdogs, who recognize the threat and move to prepare for it.
Gun control laws only affect law-abiding citizens, and more specifically, the sheepdog.
Only fools would attempt to control the wolves by regulating the sheepdogs.
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