Another terror attack occurred on American soil this past week, and because the perpetrator used guns instead of bombs, the Left has been able to hijack a needed debate about terrorism and turn it into one about gun control.
In the wake of the attack, presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton called for removing the constitutional rights of American citizens who have been placed on the Terror Watch List.
"If the FBI is watching you for suspected terrorist links, you shouldn't be able to just go buy a gun," Clinton said on Monday. (Perhaps that logic should be extended — if the FBI is investigating you for mishandling classified state secrets, you shouldn't be able to just go run for president.)
Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump also seemed open to the idea of disallowing those on the list to buy guns, tweeting Wednesday that he was meeting with the National Rifle Association (which endorsed him, he reminded) about the issue.
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And Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., has started a filibuster on the Senate floor demanding legislation that would ensure those on the watch list are automatically denied a constitutional right without due process.
In essence, the Left seems to think they are creating some kind of Department of Precrime, wherein they can predict who will actually commit a crime and preemptively ban them from obtaining a gun without any judicial process or appeal. (Without a gun, they couldn't possibly harm other people, right?)
In reality, the proposal denies due process to thousands of American citizens (it's estimated that about 1 million people are on the list), many of whom are either wrongly on the list or are treated as if they are on the list because they have the same name as someone on the list.
Secret lists kept by bureaucrats have serious drawbacks. For example, The Weekly Standard's Stephen Hayes was apparently added to the terrorist watch list in 2014 for the crime of taking an overseas cruise. Thousands more Americans are added to the list for no better reason.
In another famous example, former Sen. Ted Kennedy faced airport delays not because he was on the "no-fly" list (as he suspected and as the myth goes), but because he shared a name with someone on the list, it was as if he were on the list himself.
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This is part of the reason why the American Civil Liberties Union opposes banning those on watch lists from purchasing weapons, stating that "the standards for inclusion on the no-fly list [which is much smaller than the terrorist watch list] are unconstitutionally vague, and innocent people are blacklisted without a fair process to correct government error."
The Left believes the government should be able to determine who gets to exercise their constitutional rights based on an opaque decision process that requires no due process and affords no meaningful recourse for those added in error.
A better solution was voted down last December by Democrats. A bill drafted by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Tex., would establish "probable cause" as the standard for stopping a gun purchase by someone on such a list. "Probable cause" is a pretty low bar, the standard used by authorities when they obtain a warrant for the arrest of a suspect.
This Republican-backed proposal would have delayed the sale of a firearm to someone on the list for up to 72 hours, during which time the government would have to come up with "probable cause" that the purchaser was plotting to commit terrorism.
The NRA has supported this approach for years. In a statement released Wednesday, the NRA clarified its position on the issue ahead of its meeting with Trump.
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"Anyone on a terror watchlist who tries to buy a gun should be thoroughly investigated by the FBI and the sale delayed while the investigation is ongoing. If an investigation uncovers evidence of terrorist activity or involvement, the government should be allowed to immediately go to court, block the sale, and arrest the terrorist," the NRA wrote.
"At the same time, due process protections should be put in place that allow law-abiding Americans who are wrongly put on a watchlist to be removed."
The Left is lying about the terrorist watch list, presenting it as though the people on it have already been tried and convicted of terrorism. They have received no due process yet are still being denied their rights. As the ACLU and others have argued, the list needs to be fixed before we can even begin talking about banning people on it from anything.
Ashe Schow is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
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