Look, I'm not for terrorists getting access to guns and explosives, but this bill, if passed, will sidestep the Bill of Rights and allow anyone, added to this list, rightly or wrongly, to be denied their Constitutional rights without due process of law. This violates the fifth and fourteenth amendments to the United States Constitution, which read:
"No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."
and
"Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
I guess I shouldn't be surprised that the Brady Bunch would be promulgating a law that violates the Constitution of The United States, but it still takes me back a little. I wonder how they would feel if the law was aimed at the first amendment instead? Something tells me they would be screaming to high heaven.
Not only is this dangerous, but people not on this list are already being affected by it. Take the case of the seven year old boy who was denied entry on a plane multiple times because his name just happened to be the same as a Pakistani man who had been deported. While I think he could have worn a better shirt...it still illustrates the fact of how this law could be misused, even by coincidence. Now imagine if certain people, classified as undesirables by the AG, with no oversight and answering to no one, were to be put on this list. How would they get off? How much would it cost? How would they even know until they were denied their second amendment rights for no reason?
This quote, attributed to Benjamin Franklin says it best:
"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."
Write your elected representatives and tell them not to support S. 1237/H.R. 2074. These bills are just another incremental step toward "Legislation, Registration, Confiscation" and need to be stopped, now.