The bill would deny weapons to possible terrorists
Appeared in print: Friday, May 7, 2010

Consider for a few blood-­chilling moments that people on this country's terrorist watch list were able to buy firearms and explosives from licensed U.S. dealers 1,119 times over the past six years.

They did so legally, taking advantage of what is accurately called the "terror gap" in the nation's gun laws. Current federal law bars convicted felons and immigrants who are in this country illegally, among others, from purchasing guns, but suspected terrorists are free to buy everything from military-style assault rifles to military-grade explosives.

Sen. Frank Lautenburg, D-N.J., has introduced legislation that would close this insane loophole. The measure would enable the government to halt gun sales to people on the FBI's terror watch list.

This legislation should be a slam dunk - yet Congress repeatedly has rejected the idea of closing the terror gap. That's because the National Rifle Association, which makes normally rational lawmakers cower at the prospect of finding themselves in the group's political cross hairs, opposes the legislation. The NRA and other opponents say that people have been placed on the terrorism watch list erroneously while legitimate suspects have been left off - as if that somehow justified blocking legislation that would prevent the sale of weapons to possible terrorists.

The measure's opponents misrepresent the terror-gap legislation as overreaching and inflexible. In fact, it would not automatically disqualify someone on the terrorist watch list from buying a weapon, but would give the attorney general discretion to deny the sale of firearms or explosives if there's reason to believe they may be used for terrorism.

Lautenburg's bill has the support of Mayors Against Illegal Guns, a coalition of roughly 500 U.S. mayors. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, a co-founder of the mayors' group, testified before a Senate panel on Wednesday, just four days after an attempted terrorist attack in his city.

Bloomberg called the terror gap "a serious and dangerous breach of national security." The FBI should have the authority to block such sales, he said, "but right now, they don't."

It is time for Congress to close the terror gap.