'nuff said
The battle against terrorism has resulted in many sacrifices for Americans. Our government has given itself broad new powers of surveillance against its citizens; we've decided that certain things are no longer torture if you write a note saying so; if you want to get on an American airplane you have to agree to either let the creepy guy behind a counter use a machine to look at you naked, or get felt up by another creepy guy. For freedom, you bastards. America is at war.
But while you, personally, can't bring shampoo on a damn airplane and are about one regulation removed from having to sext the security guard before leaving the terminal, all because of the grave security concerns, rest assured that the important things are still sacrosanct. Namely, even the shuffling corpse of Osama Bin Laden himself could wander into an American gun show and buy whatever weapons he wanted, no questions asked. Because that's the American way, baby.
In a video released [June 3rd] Al Qaeda spokesman Adam Gadahn encourages terrorists to use American gun shows to arm themselves for potential Mumbai-style attacks. Gadahn's video laid out a new tactic for Al Qaeda to continue their murderous terrorist agenda:
"America is absolutely awash with easily obtainable firearms. You can go down to a gun show at the local convention center and come away with a fully automatic assault rifle, without a background check, and most likely without having to show an identification card. So what are you waiting for?"
The murderous terrorist advocating that his terrorist brethren simply get their weaponry of choice for attacking America at American guns show is, of course, absolutely right, and has not discovered anything that home-grown domestic terrorists haven't been exploiting for years. There are no background checks for purchasing assault rifles or anything else at American gun shows. And while we do check whether you're on the terrorist watch list before you can get on an airplane, they don't check whether you're on the terrorist watch list before selling you a gun and ammunition to do some actual terrorizing with.
Because, apparently, having even the slightest rule in place to prevent a known or suspected terrorist from purchasing a freakin' assault rifle would be an infringement.
So now that we know actual terrorists are planning to use this route to equip themselves, are we doing anything about it? Nope.
In addition, people on terrorist watch lists are not forbidden from purchasing guns and many have done just that. Gadahn's instructions come in the wake of Associated Press reporting that showed that more than 200 people with suspected terrorist ties bought guns legally in the United States last year. Following the AP report Representative Mike Quigley introduced an amendment to the Patriot Act that would give the Attorney General the authority to block gun sales to individuals on terror watch lists. The amendment was voted down.
It's important to note that this isn't a "loophole". It was explicitly asked of Congress whether or not names should have to be checked against the terrorist watch list before purchasing weapons at gun shows: the Republicans in Congress explicitly blocked it. It's an intentional rule. Because the ability to get access to weaponry, anywhere, anytime, without background checks or even a cursory check to see if you're an already-known terrorist -- now that's the bridge too far. We'll put anything and everything in the Patriot Act, we have no problem justifying any number of crazy restrictions against our own citizens going about their lives, but this is America, buddy, and you'll take an Al Qaeda terrorist's guns when you pry them from the gun lobby's cold, dead hands.
Don't worry, though. I'm sure the moment one of those terrorists uses one of those guns on an American bus, or in an American mall, etc., etc., etc., we'll all get lectured profusely on how we shouldn't use a tragedy to push a radical, America-hating agenda of not selling guns to the very terrorists trying to kill us. Then we'll be told to stock up on duct tape, because while the right of any deranged nutcase to purchase an assault rifle is sacrosanct, duct tape is about the only thing you'll be allowed to wear onto an airplane by the time the next Patriot Act reauthorization rolls around.