In the wake of the mass shooting in Orlando, a U.S. Senator from Florida has filed a measure that he believes the National Rifle Association could get behind.
There are a few restrictions in place to ensure certain people, like felons or the mentally ill, don’t buy guns. And, those people would be flagged in the National Instant Criminal Background Check system. But, a person taken off a terrorist watch list would not.
“Why shouldn't the FBI be notified that the person who has just purchased the weapon had been on the terrorist watch list,” asked Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), in remarks on the Senate Floor. “I don't think that even the NRA can object to this.”
So, Nelson says he’s filed common sense legislation to make sure after the purchase of a gun, the FBI would be notified through the NICS system.
“And, had that been in place in law, 49 victims innocent would not be dead, and there would not be another 50, some of whom are fighting for their lives,” he added.
Meanwhile, in a statement, the NRA says it still believes “due process protections should be put in place to allow law-abiding Americans who are wrongly put on a watchlist to be removed.” After he was cleared three separate times by the FBI, Omar Mateen—the Orlando shooter—was taken off the terrorist watchlist.
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