Thursday, June 23, 2016

"The no-fly list is a civil rights disaster by every conceivable standard"

The democrats loose Gawker on the "sit-in":  "The Democrats Are Boldly Fighting For a Bad, Stupid Bill"
After Democrats in the Senate staged a filibuster in support of gun control measures, their colleagues in the House have begun a “sit-in” aimed at embarrassing Republicans into allowing a vote on a measure that would restrict the ability of suspected terrorists to legally buy guns. The move is fantastic political theater. It’s also a tremendous waste of popular support and activist energy in support of a measure that isn’t just ineffective but also actively offensive.
The Democratic proposal has been catch-phrased and hashtagged as “no fly, no buy,” because it would prevent people who end up on government terrorism watchlists, including the “no fly list,” from purchasing firearms. This would do little to reduce gun violence, but it would add an additional layer of surveillance and government scrutiny to a particular class of people.

The no-fly list is a civil rights disaster by every conceivable standard. It is secret, it disproportionately affects Arab-Americans, it is error-prone, there is no due process or effective recourse for people placed on the list, and it constantly and relentlessly expands. As of 2014, the government had a master watchlist of 680,000 people, forty percent of whom had “no recognized terrorist group affiliation.” This is both an absurdly large number of people to arbitrarily target in gun control legislation, and far, far too few to have any meaningful effect on actual gun ownership, let alone gun violence. (more)

7 comments:

rhhardin said...

The argument, such as it is, for no fly lists is that flying is not a right so you're not deprived of a right.

Gun ownership is a right, so it needs due process.

If you want to change the right, the proper procedure is to amend the Constitution.

Michael Haz said...

The sit-in was merely a means to distract the media from reporting that a registered Democrat, Hillary supporter, gay Muslim man, employed by a government security contractor, killed 49 people in Orlando. And the FBI has "lost track" of the shooter's wife, who was his assistant, and likely an ISIS handler.

The media obediently obeyed.

edutcher said...

This is a 60s deal from wire to wire orchestrated by Cacklepants' friends in the House.

Kind of like France and Britain defending the Schlieffen Plan in 1940.

ndspinelli said...

Stunning news the FBI lost track of her. How she would not be under surveillance from day 1 is mind boggling.

edutcher said...

I guess Sgt Schultz retired from the Luftwaffe to the Bureau.

Methadras said...

rhhardin said...

The argument, such as it is, for no fly lists is that flying is not a right so you're not deprived of a right.

Gun ownership is a right, so it needs due process.

If you want to change the right, the proper procedure is to amend the Constitution.


Being put on a list where you aren't permitted your particular mode of travel via air should require due process as well. It should also require due process to be notified and removed from it if requested.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

As of 2014, the government had a master watchlist of 680,000 people, forty percent of whom had “no recognized terrorist group affiliation.” This is both an absurdly large number of people to arbitrarily target in gun control legislation...

I know! It allows the purchase of guns for only 318.3 MILLION OTHER AMERICANS! WHAT A SWEEPINGLY DRAMATIC CRACK-DOWN! HOW CAN ONLY 318.3 MILLION AMERICANS DEFEND AGAINST TYRANNY ON THEIR OWN! NOT TO MENTION THE FETUSES THAT WE HAVEN'T YET ARMED!

Nice try - going to the imploding tabloid gossip rag of Gawker for your political analysis. I guess this must be their newfound attempt to curry favor with the closeted gay Republican who's suing them out of business.

If these people were so offended at being on a list, they would have objected and done something about it once they were barred flight ticket purchases. The idea that such people would/should object more to being barred weapons purchases is hilarious. But thanks for running interference for them, anyway. Remember, if all American terrorists aren't allowed guns, then every American loses and the terrorists have won.