New Report Calls for Stricter Laws to Keep Guns Away From Terrorists
By Melissa B. Robinson Associated Press Writer
Published: Dec 19, 2001
WASHINGTON (AP) - A day before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, a Lebanese man was convicted of conspiring to ship weapons acquired at Michigan gun shows to Hezbollah, an organization listed as terrorist by the State Department.
The man was prohibited from buying guns because of a conviction for grand theft. But he did not have to undergo a background check because no federal or Michigan state law requires such checks for sales between private or unlicensed gun sellers and buyers at shows, according to a report released Wednesday by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.
The scheme, which the man was running with his brother, whose record was clean, was revealed by a police informant, the report said.
Using such examples, the report called for stricter federal controls on guns, including requiring complete criminal background checks wherever a gun is sold, including at gun shows, through classified ads or over the Internet. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., said she will introduce legislation early next year to require background checks for all gun purchases, even those between private individuals.
"For terrorists around the world, the United States is the great gun bazaar," said the report, which details how terrorists amass firearms in the United States.
Lebanon rejected the U.S. designation of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization, saying it is a legitimate resistance movement fighting against Israel's occupation of Lebanese territory.
Bills to close the loophole for background checks at gun shows - which the report called a "breeding ground for gun sales to terrorists" - have been introduced by Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., by Sens. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., and by Rep. Mike Castle, R-Del. Previous efforts to get such a measure passed by Congress have failed.
Andrew Arulanandam, a spokesman for the National Rifle Association, said the Brady center was trying to exploit the attacks in order to further its political agenda of getting more gun control laws passed at a time when firearm sales are up.
"The events of Sept. 11 had nothing to do with guns," he said. "Plausibly, had the cockpit crew of the four fateful jetliners been able to arm themselves, we might have saved 4,000 innocent lives," he said.
In the Michigan case, it's absurd to blame U.S. gun shows for state-sponsored terrorism that's bankrolled by foreign governments, Arulanandam said. Also, existing law was adequate in the case to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Among other examples cited in the report:
-An illegal Pakistani immigrant who frequented gun shows and bought rifles and pistols is being investigated by a federal grand jury in Texas for possible links to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network, the report said.
-In Florida, members of the Irish Republican Army in 1999 bought dozens of handguns, rifles and rounds of high-powered ammunition from a licensed dealer, collectors and private citizens. They then hid them in packages that were mailed overseas and intercepted by police, the report said.
-A manual for jihad, or holy war, was found at the remains of a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan and singles out the United States for its easy availability of firearms.
The report recommends outlawing mail purchases of parts necessary to make assault weapons; strengthening federal enforcement authority over gun dealers; making permanent the federal ban on assault weapons; placing limits on large-volume gun purchases; giving the FBI access to background check records of gun purchasers in the government's database; and retaining the records for at least six months.
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