Given France's strict gun laws, the terrorists who attacked Paris on Friday may have turned to black market sources for the weapons they used. But in the United States, known and suspected terrorists are allowed to purchase firearms under federal law.

"Membership in a terrorist organization does not prohibit a person from possessing firearms or explosives under current federal law," the Government Accountability Office concluded in 2010. The law prohibits felons, fugitives, drug addicts and domestic abusers from purchasing a firearm in the United States. But people on the FBI's consolidated terrorist watchlist — typically placed there when there is "reasonable suspicion" that they are a known or suspected terrorist — can freely purchase handguns or assault-style rifles.

And, as the GAO found, a number of them do: Between 2004 and 2014, suspected terrorists attempted to purchase guns from American dealers at least 2,233 times. And in 2,043 of those cases — 91 percent of the time — they succeeded. There are about 700,000 people on the watch-list — a point that civil libertarians have made to underscore that many on the list may be family members or acquaintances of people with potential terrorist connections.

Inquisitor wrote:Article 1, Section 9.

And the same people decrying NSA spying, police over reach, and frankly the terror "watchlist" when it was created after 9/11 are the ones calling for its use.

Cognitive dissonance should be painful.

senorgrand wrote:

Inquisitor wrote:Article 1, Section 9.

And the same people decrying NSA spying, police over reach, and frankly the terror "watchlist" when it was created after 9/11 are the ones calling for its use.

Cognitive dissonance should be painful.

Don't forget that in terms of the War on Terror, WaPo has always been in the pocket of the neocons.

senorgrand wrote:A secret list of nearly a million citizens whose loyalty to the state is in question?

And journalists who believe constitutional rights should be suspended on the word of that state?

The stasi would be jealous....