Last updated on: 3/10/2016 12:29:14 PM PST
Should People on the No-Fly List or the Terror Watch List Be Allowed to Purchase Guns?
Pro (Yes)
Pro
"Yes, and the reason is, and it isn't just the no-fly list, but any list that the government compiles, there’s an error rate to the list. So, in this case three, four percent error rate. My understanding is that the no-fly list includes currently sitting members of Congress."
Source: Phone Interview with ProCon.org, June 14, 2016
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Con (No)
Con
"No matter what motivation these killers, these murderers have, we can say one thing for certain, they should not have been able to do this [San Bernardino mass shooting on Dec. 2, 2015].
Just what will it take for Congress to overcome the intimidation of the gun lobby and do something as sensible as making sure people on the terrorist watch list can't buy weapons?"
Source: Heidi Przybyla, "Clinton Takes on Issue of Terror Suspects Legally Buying U.S. Guns," onpolitics.usatoday.com, Dec. 3, 2015
Con
"TRUMP: We have to have a watchlist, and if that watchlist has somebody that's -- you know, we have -- you know, we have the laws right now. We have the laws already on the books as far as Second Amendment for guns, and as you know I'm a big, big, really big proponent of the Second Amendment…
[I]f people are on a watch list or people are sick, you have already -- this is already covered in the legislation that we already have, George. It's already fully covered.
STEPHANOPOULOS: … Mr. Trump, yes or no, should someone on the terror watch list be allowed to buy a gun?
TRUMP: If somebody is on a watch list and an enemy of state and we know it's an enemy of state, I would keep them away, absolutely."
Source: ABC News, "'This Week' Transcript: Donald Trump and Ben Carson," abcnews.go.com, Nov. 22, 2015
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None Found
No position found as of Apr. 27, 2016
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FORMER CANDIDATES
(Candidates who have withdrawn or who no longer meet our criteria appear below in black and white and in alphabetical order.)
Pro (Yes)
Pro
"[I]f the FBI knows that someone's [a terrorist] in our country and they're tracking them, they shouldn't be able to get guns for sure.
But the no-fly list is a much broader list. It's not an accurate list to be able to use for restricting gun rights for law-abiding citizens…
[I]f you're tracking someone who you believe may be a terrorist, of course they shouldn't get guns.
The FBI has that capability right now."
Source: ABC News, "'This Week' Transcript: Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush," abcnews.go.com, Dec. 6, 2015
Pro
"[George] STEPHANOPOULOS: ...How about this issue of the terror watch list? As I told Mr. Trump, under the current law, people on the terror watchlist are permitted to buy guns, have been permitted to buy guns and explosives. Would you continue that?
CARSON: Well, as you, I'm sure, know, there are a lot of people on that watchlist and they have no idea why they're on that list and they've been trying to get their names off of it and no one will give them information. You know, I am a big supporter of the Second Amendment, and I don't want to deprive people unnecessarily of that. There needs to be better due process.
And that's one thing that I'm very interested in finding a way to make government more responsive to the people. It's really unfair that people can't get a real hearing. And they get put on a list and nobody can tell them why they're there, and they go through for years and years and they have to be tormented. It just doesn't make any sense."
Source: ABC News, "'This Week' Transcript: Donald Trump and Ben Carson," abcnews.go.com, Nov. 22, 2015
Pro
[Editor's Note: On Dec. 3, 2015, Senator Cruz voted no on S.Amdt. 2910 "to deny the transfer of firearms or the issuance of firearms and explosives licenses to known or suspected dangerous terrorists."]
Pro
"That's [banning gun sales to people on the terror watch list] kind of a red herring, honestly. If somebody is a suspected terrorist on a watch list they can be indicted at any time. And once you are indicted you cannot own a firearm. So let's enforce the laws we have. Let's start with that...
My best friend's husband was on the watch list for years, it was a complete mistake. He also happened to be a gun owner. If I had utter faith in the competence of government I might agree with that, but do you? I don't. The government screws up all the time. They screw up who they put on watch lists."
Source: Morning Joe, "Fiorina: This Is an Unspeakable Tragedy," msnbc.com, Dec. 3, 2015
Pro
"I think anyone who's on the Terrorist Watch List should not lose their Second Amendment right without the ability to challenge that determination. I think, Senator Kennedy was on the Terrorist Watch List. There've been people come up on the watch list. I did not want to make that a — the basis to take someone's Second Amendment rights away. What I would suggest, is that if you come up on the Terrorist Watch List, you have the ability to say, 'No, I'm not a terrorist.' And that would be the proper way to do that."
Source: Alex Seitz-Wald, "Graham: Guns, but Not Trials, for Terror Suspects," www.salon.com, Apr. 22, 2013
[Editor's Note: On Dec. 3, 2015 Lindsey Graham voted no on Senate amendment 2910, which would have prevented individuals on the terrorist watchlist from purchasing guns.]
Pro
"[Interviewer:] Well, on this specific issue, since they [the White House] keep coming back to it, what about someone on the terrorist watchlist, should they be allowed to buy a gun?
[Mike Huckabee:] Well, the problem is, most of the time, it is a name, not a background. It's not the full identity. So, I've had friends, I'm sure all of us have, friends who ended up on that list because their name was the name of somebody that might have a suspicion, not necessarily even so much as a probable cause, but they were on the No-Fly List, and it took them months, if not a couple of years, to get off of it. In the meantimes their lives were a living hell. Now, why would you put people through that. If you can't, at that point, really say that this is a person you’re suspecting of terrorist activity, or some — even suspecting of criminal activity?"
Source: Ian Hanchett, "Huckabee: Don't Bar People on No-Fly List from Buying Guns, Gun Control 'False Argument' to Dodge 'Real Issue,'" www.breitbart.com, Dec. 4, 2015
Pro
"[N]obody wants somebody who's a terrorist to have a gun — myself included — but there has to be a process…
I don't think we should take away your First Amendment right to have freedom to express yourself in the media without some kind of due process. I'd be very worried about saying, we're going to have a watch list of journalists who we think are inappropriate on TV, and we'll take away their First Amendment rights. What you really need is a constitutional process. I'm all for keeping guns out of the hands of terrorists, but you can't just have a list [no-fly list]."
Source: Matthew Balan, "CNN's Camerota Lobbies Rand Paul on Obama's Gun Control Proposal," newsbusters.org, Dec. 7, 2015
[Editor's Note: On Dec. 3, 2015, Senator Paul voted no on S.Amdt. 2910 "to deny the transfer of firearms or the issuance of firearms and explosives licenses to known or suspected dangerous terrorists."]
Pro
"[T]he majority of people on the no-fly list are oftentimes people that basically just have the same name as somebody else who don't belong on the no-fly list…
Ted Kennedy once said he was on a no- fly list... there are journalists on the no-fly list…
These are everyday Americans that have nothing to with terrorism. They wind up on the no-fly list. There's no due process or any way to get your name removed from it in a timely fashion. And now they're having their Second Amendment right being impeded upon.
If these were perfect lists, that would be one thing. But there are over 700,000 Americans on some watch list or another that would all be captured under this amendment the Democrats offered. And that's the problem…
They include vast numbers of Americans who have names similar to someone we're looking for. Sometimes, you're only on that list because the FBI wants to talk to you about someone you know, not because you're a suspect. And, again, now your Second Amendment right is being impeded."
Source: CNN State of the Union, "Terror in London; President Obama to Address Nation; Interview With Florida Senator Marco Rubio...," transcripts.cnn.com, Dec. 6, 2015
[Editor's Note: On Dec. 3, 2015, Senator Rubio voted no on S.Amdt. 2910 "to deny the transfer of firearms or the issuance of firearms and explosives licenses to known or suspected dangerous terrorists."]
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Con (No)
Con
"KASICH: ...Of course, it makes common sense to say that, if you're on a terrorist watch list, you shouldn't be able to go out and get a gun, although you will be able to get it illegally. But what we have to deal with is the fact that we don't want to tip somebody off that they're under - they're under review and that we could be gathering critical information to disrupt a plot…
Look, everybody wants to get a slick little answer and 100 percent answer. As governor of Ohio, I have to sit down with people who are very knowledgeable in a whole variety of ways. And then we look at it. And we try to figure out, what is the commonsense solution?
So, if there is a practical way to limit it, yes. But I think we also have to weigh it off against our ability to surveil…
And so this is something that has to be considered from many different sides, so we don't make a big mistake again."
Source: CNN, "Kasich: 'If You're on a Terrorist Watch List, You Shouldn't Be Able to Go out and Get a Gun,'" cnnpressroom.blog.cnn.com, Dec. 6, 2015
Con
“[G]uns should not be falling into the hands of people who should not be having them.
And, obviously, that goes without saying. I don't think it's very hard to understand that terrorists or potential terrorists should not have guns. People who are being barred from flying on airplanes should not have guns."
Source: CBS News, "Face the Nation Transcripts December 6, 2015: Trump, Christie, Sanders," cbsnews.com, Dec. 6, 2015
[Editor's Note: On Dec. 3, 2015, Senator Sanders voted yes on S.Amdt. 2910 "to deny the transfer of firearms or the issuance of firearms and explosives licenses to known or suspected dangerous terrorists."]
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Not Clearly Pro or Con
"That [terror watch] list is an important list to have, because there are people we should be watching.
But when the list is as faulty as it is now, people should have a real problem with it.
My feeling is: Let's improve the list. I don't mind excluding people (from buying guns) who are on that list if they're on that list in a valid way. The problem is, the list doesn't have any credibility right now, because the government has messed up by putting guys like Stephen Hayes from The Weekly Standard on the list.
We gotta clean the list up ... when we have a president who knows how to do that, and we appoint people who know how to do it, you won't worry about it...
We give people who are here illegally due process to pass hearings. It's the least we can do for an American citizen in supporting their constitutional rights."
Source: Claude Brodesser-Akner, "See What Christie Thinks about Banning Gun Sales to Those on Terror Watch List," nj.com, Dec. 13, 2015
None Found
No position found as of Dec. 29, 2015
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