The National Riffle Association said Wednesday that anyone on a federal terrorism watch list who tries to buy a gun should not only be investigated by the FBI, but the sale should be delayed during the ongoing investigation.
The NRA also added that “due process protections” should be put in place allowing people wrongly put on a watch list to be removed.
The statement comes in the wake of Sunday’s deadly massacre in Orlando, Fla., that left 49 people dead and 53 others injured, and ahead of an NRA meeting with presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. Democrats say anyone on a watchlist should be banned outright from buying a gun, but the NRA said the issue is more complicated than that, and that due process concerns need to be addressed.
“The NRA believes that terrorists should not be allowed to purchase or possess firearms, period,” Chris Cox, Executive director of NRA’S Institute for Legislative Action, said in a statement Wednesday afternoon.
Cox added that if an investigation into an individual “uncovers evidence of terrorist activity or involvement, the government should be allowed to immediately go to court, block the sale, and arrest the terrorist.”
But at the same time, “due process protections should be put in place that allow law-abiding Americans who are wrongly put on a watch list to be removed,” Cox said.
Trump tweeted Wednesday morning that he plans to meet with the NRA about measures to keep individuals on the “no fly list” from purchasing guns.
“Happy to meet [Donald Trump]. Our position is no guns for terrorists — period. Due process and right to self-defense for law-abiding Americans,” the NRA said in a tweet prior to releasing an official statement.
The NRA’s statement aligns with the position of Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, whose watch list gun proposal has been out since December.
