Obama No-Fly List: President States That Loophole In The Law That Allows Gun Ownership Is ‘Insane’ [Video]


President Obama has stated that the loophole in the law that allows people who are on a No-Fly list to still legally purchase a gun in the United States needs to be closed. President Obama goes as far as to say that it is “insane.”

“Right now, people on the No-Fly list can walk into a store and buy a gun. That is insane. If you’re too dangerous to board a plane, you’re too dangerous, by definition, to buy a gun. And so I’m calling on Congress to close this loophole, now. We may not be able to prevent every tragedy, but — at a bare minimum — we shouldn’t be making it so easy for potential terrorists or criminals to get their hands on a gun that they could use against Americans.”

One of the most talked about topics in the United States this year has been about gun control. Democrats are on the side that it is far too easy to purchase a gun while Republicans are championing the 2nd amendment and do not want to infringe on civil rights. The gun control debate came to head after the deadly massacre in San Bernardino, California. It has come out that the weapons used during the California terrorist attack were purchased legally. California has the the strictest gun laws in the country, yet they were able to be purchased by a radicalized terrorist.

No reports have surfaced that claim Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik were on a No-Fly list. Closing the No-Fly list loophole would not have stopped the husband and wife radicals from murdering 14 people. Still, President Obama says the loophole needs to be closed immediately.

Democratic candidate for president, Hillary Clinton, has been vocal over the last few days and shares the same viewpoint of Obama. Clinton took the opportunity presented by Obama in stating that a bill was on the floor of the Senate in which the No-Fly list loophole would have been closed, but the bill did not garner enough votes to continue on.

The No-Fly list is not a perfect system. Mistakes can be made and people who have never broken any laws have mistakenly been put on the No-Fly list. The problem that this raises is that the government will not confirm or deny if a person is on it. The government has also never laid out any way for a person to come off the list, especially if they are on the list in error. Former Marine, Abe Mashal, was one of the people who was on the No-Fly list by mistake. Mashal said, “I thought it was some type of sick joke.” When Mashal tried to get off the No-Fly list he was told by the FBI that he could be removed if he became an informant in the Muslim community. Mashal contacted the ACLU and sued.

Mashal and the ACLU won their lawsuit against the government. The judge claimed that travel was a right granted in the constitution. The judge went on to say that if the government puts a person on the No-Fly list and restricts their ability to travel, then the government must grant due process to the person in order to try and rectify the situation.

The burden of proof that the government uses to put a person on the No-Fly list is that “reasonable suspicion” exists that the person has terrorist ties. The judge stated that “reasonable suspicion” is more than a hunch but not enough to even arrest someone.

Mashal has been taken off the No-Fly list. Those who are against Obama wanting to close the No-Fly list loophole want to make sure that a process is put in place for a person to be able exercise their right of due process.

There are many others like Mashal who are on the No-Fly list in error. If the No-Fly list loophole is changed the way Obama wants it, those who are on the list wrongly would never be able to buy or own a gun.

Should the No-Fly list loophole be closed without the ability for a person to get off of it?

[Image Via AP Photo/Evan Vucci]

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