NRA represents gun manufacturers — period

Editorial
Antiterror Measures at Home
Published: October 1, 2011

One of the bitter lessons of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, was the need for better coordination and sharing of intelligence among the nation’s security agencies, to flag dangerous people entering the country. But there were also well-founded concerns about how well that system was working, and whether it was being abused.

Ten years later, files released by the F.B.I. under the Freedom of Information Act show that the government’s bloated terrorist watch list remains a flawed security tool in need of greater transparency and accountability. There are longstanding concerns about implementation and accuracy, including the omission of names from the list that properly belong there. There also has been a persistent problem of flagging the wrong people — including an 8-year-old and at least one senator — who then have serious trouble getting their names removed.

The 91 pages of newly disclosed files, described by The Times’s Charlie Savage last week, included a December 2010 memorandum to F.B.I. field offices revealing that even a not-guilty verdict may not always be enough to get someone off the list, if agents retain “reasonable suspicion” that the person might have ties to terrorism.

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But the unwieldy size of the database raises doubts. So does the disturbing absence of procedures to notify people who are on the watch list, or to give them a chance to see and challenge allegations against them. Inclusion on the watch list can keep people off planes, subject them to delays and extra invasive scrutiny at airports, traffic stops and border crossings, and prevent noncitizens from entering the country.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/02/opinion/sunday/antiterror-measures-at-home.html?_r=2&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

July 25, 2012 11:00 AM
Luntz Poll: NRA Membership Supports Gun Sensible Control

By Susie Madrak

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87 percent of NRA members agree that support for 2nd Amendment rights goes hand-in-hand with keeping guns out of the hands of criminals.

There is very strong support for criminal background checks:
74 percent support requiring criminal background checks of anyone purchasing a gun.
79 percent support requiring gun retailers to perform background checks on all employees – a measure recently endorsed by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the trade association for the firearms industry.

NRA members strongly support allowing states to set basic eligibility requirements for people who want to carry concealed, loaded guns in public places. By contrast, the NRA leadership’s top federal legislative priority – national reciprocity for concealed carry permits – would effectively eliminate these requirements by forcing every state to allow non-residents to carry concealed guns even if they would not qualify for a local permit.

NRA members support many common state eligibility rules for concealed carrying:
75 percent believe concealed carry permits should only be granted to applicants who have not committed any violent misdemeanors, including assault.
74 percent believe permits should only be granted to applicants who have completed gun safety training.
68 percent believe permits should only be granted to applicants who do not have prior arrests for domestic violence.
63 percent believe permits should only be granted to applicants 21 years of age or older.

http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/luntz-poll-nra-membership-supports-gu