The Supreme Court recently ruled that three Muslims could sue FBI agents over their placement on the no-fly list. The case also serves as a worthwhile reminder of the absurdity of Democrats’ gun control proposals.
The three Muslim men were seeking monetary damages for being placed on the no-fly list after they refused to become FBI informants. One of the men, Muhammad Tanvir, said that agents also threatened to arrest him over his refusal and would repeatedly show up to his place of work.
If that sounds like religious-based harassment, that’s because it is. But it is also worth noting that this is exactly the kind of gun control that Democrats have repeatedly promoted and sought to implement.
“No fly, no buy” is a policy supported by the gun control group Moms Demand Action. Democrats staged a sit-in in the House of Representatives to push a bill banning anyone on the no-fly list from owning a firearm. The sit-in ironically included the late Rep. John Lewis, who himself was placed on the no-fly list.
The no-fly list is a due process mess. You can be placed on the list for having a name similar to that of a terrorist. One woman in 2004 was placed on the list after an FBI agent filled out a form incorrectly. Extremely common names such as “Robert Johnson” have been placed on the list, causing dozens of innocent people to be inconvenienced or even prevented from flying. A New Jersey family was even forced to get off a plane in 2012 because their 18-month-old child’s name was on the list.
Getting off the list is an enormous hassle, even once you’ve figured out you’re on it. Even Ted Kennedy, a powerful and connected politician, couldn’t get off the list “for a period of weeks.”
But it doesn’t particularly matter to Democrats that the no-fly list lacks due process and disproportionately targets Muslims. It didn’t matter to former President Barack Obama in 2015 or to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who asserted that “if you’re too dangerous to fly, you’re too dangerous to buy a gun.” When a handful of Republicans led by Sen. Susan Collins made the idea “bipartisan,” most Senate Republicans pushed back.
Even left-wing activist groups like the American Civil Liberties Union agree that it’s a terrible idea. But it’s still one to which Democrats cling. Even a unanimous Supreme Court decision highlighting the pitfalls of the no-fly list isn’t likely to change that, but it should serve as a reminder just how absurd Democrats’ gun control proposals typically are.
