A few House Republicans proposed a resolution this week to explain that imposing a gun ban on anyone listed on a terrorism watchlist would violate the Constitution.
The idea of banning weapons from people on a watchlist has come up for the last few weeks, as a Democratic plan aimed at reducing gun violence. While Republicans have said the government should be trying to keep terrorists out of the country, Democrats have said a better answer is to deny potentially risky people access to guns once they arrive.
But the resolution from Rep. Renee Ellmers, R-N.C., warns that federal watchlists are just that: lists of people who may be suspect, but who haven’t been convicted of any crime yet.
“The terrorist watch list is simply a tool for law enforcement,” she said. “However most recently, the Terrorist Watch List has conveniently served as a shiny object, or distraction, utilized by Democrats to divert attention away from their president’s failed foreign policy plan to defeat ISIS.”
“To prohibit American citizens — who have not been accused of a crime, yet remain on the Terrorist Watch List — from partaking in their 2nd Amendment right to bear arms, without due process, would be unconstitutional,” she added.
Her resolution expresses the sense of Congress that it “runs contrary to America’s values” to take away people’s constitutional rights simply because they were put on a watchlist without any due process.
“[T]he ‘Terrorist Watch List’ is a tool for law enforcement, and not a list of criminals or terrorists that have been afforded any due process,” it says. “[T]he ‘Terrorist Watch List sometimes includes American citizens that have not been accused of any crime.”
It concludes by saying any legislation prohibiting gun ownership by people solely because they’re on the watchlist “would be unconstitutional and should not be considered.”
Read the resolution here:
