People On Terror Watch List Allowed To Buy Guns

When people on the government’s terrorist watch list have tried to buy guns or explosives in recent years, the government has let them the vast majority of the time. That’s the finding of a new report by the Government Accountability Office, sent to lawmakers last month and released publicly Monday.

From February 2004 to February 2009, 963 background checks using the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System “resulted in valid matches with terrorist watch list records; of these matches, approximately 90 percent were allowed to proceed because the checks revealed no prohibiting information,” the GAO report says. About 10 percent were denied.

“Under current law, there is no basis to automatically prohibit a person from possessing firearms or explosives because they appear on the terrorist watch list,” wrote the GAO’s director of homeland security and justice issues, Eileen R. Larence.

“Rather, there must be a disqualifying factor (i.e., prohibiting information) pursuant to federal or state law, such as a felony conviction or illegal immigration status.”

Of the 963 background checks, 865 were allowed to proceed, and 98 were denied, the report said.
People on terrorist watch list allowed to buy guns – CNN.com