So after nine years of rhetoric about the dangers from terrorists and the need for a more stringent homeland security, CNN reports that people on the Terror Watch List are buying guns and explosives. It’s not that they are buying these guns and explosives in distant countries. They are buying them right here in the USA. How convenient. For them.
The Terror Watch List is one of the background checks many employers will run on employment candidates. It is a standard, as is the OFAC report, the acronym for the Federal Assets Office report, listing persons and businesses that are not allowed to work or operate in this country.
The catch is this. According to the GAO (Government Account Office) the mere fact that someone is on the Terror Watch List does not prohibit him from buying firearms. That person must also be a convicted felon or, heaven forbid, and illegal immigrant. But if you are a potential terrorist, according to the law, go ahead and buy some weapons…what do we care?
Coupled with the fact that the Terror Watch list is rife with inaccuracies– meaning there are innocent people mistakenly listed and names that logn ago should have been removed– the fact that those who are legitimately on the List can buy weapons not only borders on absurdity, but travels well past absurdity to a new range of surrealism.
It should be noted that the GAO has stated that a person listed on the Terror Watch List is not necessarily involved in terrorist activity. What a relief.
