Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Senate are trying to find consensus on a new gun control measure following the massacre in Orlando, but that’s going to be difficult because, well, it’s about guns.
The gun issue, like abortion, forces each side into their respective corners. Common ground is often a political “no-man’s land” where politicians risk excoriation by their base if they stray too far.
Democrats, including Senator Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia), are lining up behind California Senator Dianne Feinstein’s amendment. Republicans, including Senator Shelley Moore Capito (R-West Virginia) back Texas Senator John Cornyn’s legislation.
The bills do share the same intent—closing the so-called terror gap by prohibiting would-be terrorists from legally buying guns, but there are distinct differences in the execution.
According to Feinstein’s website, her amendment would “give the attorney general authority to block the sale of guns or explosives to known or suspected terrorists, if the attorney general has a reasonable belief that the weapons would be used in connection with terrorism.”
The Cornyn bill establishes a much higher burden of proof. The government would have to show that the person buying a gun is actually planning a terrorist act. The government would have only 72 hours to present the evidence, otherwise the FBI would be unable to stop the sale.
As always, the difficulty is finding a way to make it harder for terrorists to arm themselves without infringing on the 2nd Amendment rights of law abiding citizens.
The FBI investigated Omar Mateen extensively before closing the case because there was not enough evidence to charge him. However, it would be beneficial to law enforcement if, when Mateen tried to buy guns, that information turned up on his background check and raised a red flag.
Feinstein says updated data from the Government Accountability Office shows that known or suspected terrorists pass a background check to purchase a firearm or explosives 91 percent of the time. The GAO found that just last year individuals on the terrorist watch list passed the firearms background check 223 out of 244 times.
The natural fear is that innocent people will end up on the watch list and be denied their right to purchase a firearm. However, the Feinstein amendment allows a person to submit corrected information, which then must be considered immediately. The individual can even bring a civil action against the government if they are wrongly placed on the no-sell list.
America’s war against Islam-inspired terrorism has many fronts, from the battlefields around the world to our normally peaceful neighborhoods. There is not one solution, but rather a series of steps we can take that collectively improve our security.
The Feinstein amendment, or something close to it, is at least one way to make it more difficult for terrorists to obtain the weapons they need to do harm, while not encumbering our valued rights.