JimofPennsylvan
Platinum Member
- Jun 6, 2007
- 878
- 527
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Both the Democrat and Republican parties are being overly partisan about the gun control legislation the country desperately needs as underscored by the killing of forty-nine people at the nightclub in Orlando Florida around one week ago! Amongst the American people it is really a nonissue that the government has to keep guns out of peoples hands who pose a terroristic threat so the task is quite clear for both parties craft and pass legislation that accomplishes this needed protection but don't block ordinary Americans from being able to exercise their constitutional right to possess a gun.
The major problem with the Democrat bill or commonly called the Feinstein bill is that the due process protections are absolutely terrible how Democrat Senators who are supposed to appreciate the concept of rights and should be highly dedicated to protecting them can support this joke of protections is beyond me. This is the way the Feinstein bill works the Department of Justice will be able to deny a person authorization to buy a gun if the DOJ has reasonable suspicion the person is involved in, has been involved in or will be involved in terrorism and concludes considering the totality of the circumstances that the person poses a threat to public safety. That part isn't too bad although it would be better if the bill was more restrictive and said the person is on the terrorist watch list or the no fly list and also meets this test because this is legislation taking away a persons second amendment rights the government should be as narrow as possible in its targeting that is good public policy; also the language of this part of the bill is convoluted it should be simpler and cleaner so it is easy to apply. In regards to the due process part of the legislation it provides that a person denied authorization can appeal to the FBI's Appeal Services Team for reconsideration. Also, and this is very generous of the Democrats it provides that a person denied can always appeal to the Attorney General making a case that they can be trusted to possess a gun and if the AG denies their request they can always make this appeal to a District Court Judge.
One problem with the Democrat approach is that they are copying the current appeal process to the FBI Appeal Services Team for denials for the current background check process. But those appeals are objective appeals meaning their appeals like the FBI has the wrong guy I am not the guy with this record sheet or that conviction the FBI has on me is inaccurate the conviction was overturned etc.. The appeals for terrorism denials will be subjective appeals it involves arguments like I spent three months in Saudi Arabia taking an education course about my Muslim faith not training to be a terrorist or my contacts with this person in Pakistan that possibly has a connection with the Taliban is my Uncle and I was checking up on how his sick daughter is. These are appeals that need to be heard by an impartial arbiter, fairness calls for these appeals to be heard by Administrative Law Judges and these ALJs need to be given some express power to delve into the security issues meaning they should not be overly hamstrung by nondisclosure restrictions the DOJ can restrict on specific name, dates and locations but the ALJ should be free to discuss with appellants nonspecific issues like for specific countries what were your contacts and the nature of those contacts; if the DOJ doesn't like the rules for the specific case they can tailor their case accordingly and maybe withdrawal it and find another way to protect the public. This second appeal the Democrats offer should be thrown in the trash for its garbage what should be added to the bill is exactly what is in the Brady Law that is the law today for denials based on a criminal record check which is a person has a right to appeal to a District Court Judge. The reason why it is important to have an ALJ appeal process is that a District Court appeal where one has to hire an attorney is a several thousand dollar expense for people such a legal expense undermines the concept of due process which one is entitled to since one's Second Amendment constitutional right is being taken away here, one doesn't need a lawyer for ALJ hearings.
The Republican Bill is even worse than the Democrat bill it is not a serious effort to protect the American people Senators in the Republican caucus should be extremely ashamed of their party with this effort. The Republican bill is called the Cornyn bill. It essentially only empowers the DOJ to block authorization for a person on the terrorist watch list to buy a gun for three days during this time the DOJ is supposed to run to a court and file an emergency petition denying authorization for that person to be able to purchase a firearm. And this is the really big shock about the bill in order for the DOJ to prevail on the petition they essentially have to show that they have probable cause that the person seeking to buy a gun has committed a crime related to terrorism. This is a shock because if they had such evidence they should have arrested this person already for they are the DOJ charged with prosecuting violations of U.S. criminal laws. This standard is way too high it doesn't protect the American people from terrorist threats that a responsible government could protect them against. The Cornyn bill doesn't even require the Judge hearing the emergency petition to issue a temporary injunction enjoining the gun seller to not go through with the sale until the hearing on the petition is complete.
If I was a Republican member of Congress I would be calling on my colleagues to negotiate with Democrats and improve their bill to provide for real due process protections because the way things stand now the Republicans lose on this issue from a voters standpoint and lose significantly. The American people are sick and tired of seeing these mass shootings whether it be California or Florida and know that our gun protection laws are terrible the American people are going to want people to be held accountable and its the Republicans that they will grab on to because they are so much worse than Democrats on this issue. The Republican House is acting like they're from Mars on this issue Speaker Paul Ryan often makes two points on this issue first"that his Party doesn't take away citizens rights without due process" and second "when you have people coming out with these quick ideas in the heat of the moment his party is going to stand up and defend the constitution". What does Mr. Ryan expect America to do for every person that government authorities have a suspicion they could have a connection with terrorism or have mental health problems hold Judicial court hearings to determine if the government has justification to block them from possessing a gun even before the government knows they have any interest in purchasing a gun. How many mass shootings does Mr. Ryan expect the American people to endure before he realizes that proponents of significant better gun regulation for America are not acting rashly!
The major problem with the Democrat bill or commonly called the Feinstein bill is that the due process protections are absolutely terrible how Democrat Senators who are supposed to appreciate the concept of rights and should be highly dedicated to protecting them can support this joke of protections is beyond me. This is the way the Feinstein bill works the Department of Justice will be able to deny a person authorization to buy a gun if the DOJ has reasonable suspicion the person is involved in, has been involved in or will be involved in terrorism and concludes considering the totality of the circumstances that the person poses a threat to public safety. That part isn't too bad although it would be better if the bill was more restrictive and said the person is on the terrorist watch list or the no fly list and also meets this test because this is legislation taking away a persons second amendment rights the government should be as narrow as possible in its targeting that is good public policy; also the language of this part of the bill is convoluted it should be simpler and cleaner so it is easy to apply. In regards to the due process part of the legislation it provides that a person denied authorization can appeal to the FBI's Appeal Services Team for reconsideration. Also, and this is very generous of the Democrats it provides that a person denied can always appeal to the Attorney General making a case that they can be trusted to possess a gun and if the AG denies their request they can always make this appeal to a District Court Judge.
One problem with the Democrat approach is that they are copying the current appeal process to the FBI Appeal Services Team for denials for the current background check process. But those appeals are objective appeals meaning their appeals like the FBI has the wrong guy I am not the guy with this record sheet or that conviction the FBI has on me is inaccurate the conviction was overturned etc.. The appeals for terrorism denials will be subjective appeals it involves arguments like I spent three months in Saudi Arabia taking an education course about my Muslim faith not training to be a terrorist or my contacts with this person in Pakistan that possibly has a connection with the Taliban is my Uncle and I was checking up on how his sick daughter is. These are appeals that need to be heard by an impartial arbiter, fairness calls for these appeals to be heard by Administrative Law Judges and these ALJs need to be given some express power to delve into the security issues meaning they should not be overly hamstrung by nondisclosure restrictions the DOJ can restrict on specific name, dates and locations but the ALJ should be free to discuss with appellants nonspecific issues like for specific countries what were your contacts and the nature of those contacts; if the DOJ doesn't like the rules for the specific case they can tailor their case accordingly and maybe withdrawal it and find another way to protect the public. This second appeal the Democrats offer should be thrown in the trash for its garbage what should be added to the bill is exactly what is in the Brady Law that is the law today for denials based on a criminal record check which is a person has a right to appeal to a District Court Judge. The reason why it is important to have an ALJ appeal process is that a District Court appeal where one has to hire an attorney is a several thousand dollar expense for people such a legal expense undermines the concept of due process which one is entitled to since one's Second Amendment constitutional right is being taken away here, one doesn't need a lawyer for ALJ hearings.
The Republican Bill is even worse than the Democrat bill it is not a serious effort to protect the American people Senators in the Republican caucus should be extremely ashamed of their party with this effort. The Republican bill is called the Cornyn bill. It essentially only empowers the DOJ to block authorization for a person on the terrorist watch list to buy a gun for three days during this time the DOJ is supposed to run to a court and file an emergency petition denying authorization for that person to be able to purchase a firearm. And this is the really big shock about the bill in order for the DOJ to prevail on the petition they essentially have to show that they have probable cause that the person seeking to buy a gun has committed a crime related to terrorism. This is a shock because if they had such evidence they should have arrested this person already for they are the DOJ charged with prosecuting violations of U.S. criminal laws. This standard is way too high it doesn't protect the American people from terrorist threats that a responsible government could protect them against. The Cornyn bill doesn't even require the Judge hearing the emergency petition to issue a temporary injunction enjoining the gun seller to not go through with the sale until the hearing on the petition is complete.
If I was a Republican member of Congress I would be calling on my colleagues to negotiate with Democrats and improve their bill to provide for real due process protections because the way things stand now the Republicans lose on this issue from a voters standpoint and lose significantly. The American people are sick and tired of seeing these mass shootings whether it be California or Florida and know that our gun protection laws are terrible the American people are going to want people to be held accountable and its the Republicans that they will grab on to because they are so much worse than Democrats on this issue. The Republican House is acting like they're from Mars on this issue Speaker Paul Ryan often makes two points on this issue first"that his Party doesn't take away citizens rights without due process" and second "when you have people coming out with these quick ideas in the heat of the moment his party is going to stand up and defend the constitution". What does Mr. Ryan expect America to do for every person that government authorities have a suspicion they could have a connection with terrorism or have mental health problems hold Judicial court hearings to determine if the government has justification to block them from possessing a gun even before the government knows they have any interest in purchasing a gun. How many mass shootings does Mr. Ryan expect the American people to endure before he realizes that proponents of significant better gun regulation for America are not acting rashly!
