[url]http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=679&ncid=742&e=1&u=/usatoday/20030521/cm_usatoday/5175677 [/url]


CRC

They forgot to say that "terrorists" can also LEGALLY purchase unlimited amount of ammunition. And while they are at it, they might as well outlaw the possession of box cutters that are not registered, since that was the primary weapon used by the WTC/Pentagon hi-jackers.
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Yahoo! News   Wed, May 21, 2003

Anti-terrorism efforts ignore lax U.S. gun laws
Wed May 21, 7:31 AM ET  Add Op/Ed - USA TODAY to My Yahoo!

More than 20 months after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a government report out Tuesday warned that foreign terrorists still can take advantage of loopholes in U.S. gun laws and lax government enforcement to buy all of the assault weapons and explosives they need to strike again on U.S. soil.

The revelation by the Congressional Research Service came as the Bush administration raised the national terror alert to its second-highest level because of reports of possible attacks by al-Qaeda.

Yet while the code-orange alert signaled law enforcement agencies across the country to tighten security, the dangerous -- and well-known -- loopholes in U.S. gun laws continue to be ignored by Congress.

Just as worrisome, federal authorities aren't taking the problem seriously, either. The report found that agents who conduct required background checks on would-be gun buyers don't even bother to check international terrorist watch lists used by airport security personnel and border patrols.

Such breaches point to the uneven application of anti-terror measures in the USA: While air travelers are forced to surrender nail clippers before boarding a plane, a foreign terrorist can acquire an arsenal of military-style rifles with ease.

Among the loopholes they can exploit:

* Firearms, including semiautomatic assault weapons, can be purchased without background checks at gun shows if the seller is a ''private'' individual, not a licensed dealer. Members of terrorist groups, such as Lebanon-based Hezbollah, have bought these weapons in the USA.

* There are no limits on the number of assault weapons or high-powered rifles that can be purchased at a single gun show.

* The existing background-check system is not designed to spot false names, stolen identities or the use of third parties to evade the law. Even if a background check is held up because of reasonable suspicions about a potential gun buyer, the sale can go through legally after three days.

* Legal immigrants, including potential terrorist ''sleepers'' and some short-term foreign visitors, can acquire weapons merely with a minimal check.

* Laws controlling the sales of black gunpowder contain exemptions that would allow a bomb-maker to acquire 1,000 pounds simply through multiple purchases. That's enough to build a deadly car bomb. Ammonium nitrate, which was used in the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, is unregulated.

Intelligence and law enforcement officials have been warning since the 2001 attacks that al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups know how easily weak U.S. gun laws can be evaded. Yet the gun lobby has blocked efforts to tighten the law, arguing that such moves infringe on the constitutional rights of sportsmen, collectors and other law-abiding gun owners.

Their opposition ignores the fact that common-sense measures to keep weapons away from terrorists don't interfere with the rights of law-abiding gun owners.

As long as gun laws are loose and enforcement is lax, foreign terrorists can exploit homegrown gaps in the nation's security.

I don't think ANYONE has ever made the mistake of believing that USAToday (or any other news rag save the Washington Times, for that matter) is Pro-Gun.

The day USAToday, the AJC, Washington Post, or NYT publish a pro-gun story is the day physicists will have to recalculate Plank's Constant and Avogadro's Number, since Reality will have obviously suffered a fundamental restructuring.

Zaphod,

You forgot pi, e and speed of light.  All will have to be calculated and/or measured.

Merlin

[b]* There are no limits on the number of assault weapons or high-powered rifles that can be purchased at a single gun show. [/b]

I disagree here. I always run out of money before I run out of things to buy. [;D]

And who ever said USAToday was progun? [whacko]

[LOL]



no kidding!!  

almost all traditional media is anti-gun

I see nothing unreasonable in that article. We must do all that we can to insure we have freedom from fear in this great democracy.

I totally disagree.  If you're talking about gunshows in the STL, MO area, there are only about 2 assault weapons to buy.  Plenty of old bird guns though...

Oh, and BTW, I know a guy over in Iraq who says that all the Iraqis are flying over to the US to buy SAR1s for $350 at the gunshows.  

It seems that One-Eyed Abbib jacked up his prices to $60 per AK-47 in the Bagdad street markets, thus the rush to buy American guns here before the new import bans kick in over there...