Editorial: Weapons for Terrorists

National security has been the foremost topic since the attacks in Paris, France. There is great concern that there may be terrorists among the Syrian refugees heading our way or that ISIS may penetrate our borders. That is why security measures and controls are being reinforced. However, there is one thing that remains untouchable: the “right” of terrorist suspects to arm themselves to their teeth.

Federal laws forbid convicts, drug addicts, fugitives and people who have been found guilty of domestic violence from buying fire arms. Still, a 2010 analysis made by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) says that “membership in a terrorist organization does not prohibit a person from possessing firearms or explosives under current federal law.” As a result, the GAO estimated that, between 2004 and 2014, suspects of having ties to terrorist groups tried to buy weapons in at least in 2,233 occasions. In 91% of the cases (2,043), they were successful.

It is believed that 700,000 people are on the watch list, a number critics say includes relatives and acquaintances of the suspects. It is also known that some names on that list should not be there.

That is why Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Congressman Peter King (R-NY) introduced the Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act of 2015. The bill would have prevented people on the list from purchasing weapons and created a process for individuals to appeal to remove their name from the list. However, the National Rifle Association (NRA) lobbied to block an otherwise reasonable measure that would have created a balance between the interests of national security and the Second Amendment.

The NRA’s perverse logic says that any kind of gun control, even if it prevents firearms from falling into the hands of terrorists, is an attack on the rights of the people of the United States and that it fails to prevent criminals from acquiring them. This is the argument that has stalled previous Republican, Democratic and bipartisan bills ultimately seeking to prevent people suspected of having ties with terrorists from buying guns.

This is an unsustainable contradiction when it comes to guaranteeing public safety.