JimBowie1958
Old Fogey
- Sep 25, 2011
- 63,590
- 16,767
Mateen was on the FBI watch list but he was still able to buy all his guns a week before the attacks?
We need to formalize how we maintain these watch lists and the suspects should be able to challenge and clear themselves of that list efficiently and with haste, and in the time being they should be flagged to not be able to buy guns.
There is no doubt that this was at least domestic terrorism.
ISIS is claiming credit for it - which is entirely possible.
Mateen had made several terrorist threats in the past and was a known member of ISIS.
ISIS threatened to attack a gay bar in Florida three days before this attack.
What value is any Terrorist Watch List if it cannot be referenced to stop people from buying guns?
I propose this as a tentative process:
1. Person is added to Terror Watch List as an internal document for the agencies use only. These are people merely considered a possible threat with some amount of evidence to support that concern.
2. The person commits an act considered to be a form of terrorism. For example he joins ISIS or he contacts them saying he wants to join, or he joins a Wahhabi mosque with a radical cleric noted internally as one that encourages Islamic violence, or he makes threats to attack any establishment.
3. He then gets put before an internal board that decides whether to put him on a Terrorist Restriction List. Being on this list means you cannot buy a gun, an airplane ticket or anything that the BATFE considers a dangerous material. The person being put on the list is notified of the ongoing process and asks him to explain his behavior. He is given 30 days to respond. AS this is a case of agency law and not criminal law, he has no criminal protections and does not have the right to a lawyer.
4. The board decides to put him on the list or not to. IF they do he has the restrictions listed above and he has the time to appeal or request being removed from the list, etc. The list would be dynamic with names going on and some coming off over time.
5. If the person on the Terrorist Restriction List attempts to buy any of the restricted items, he gets a visit from the FBI, BATF, etc to investigate the nature of his activity.
Since by this process Mateen would have been on the restricted list over a year ago, this process would have stopped the purchases of the guns used in Florida's massacre this weekend. What is the point of monitoring and watching the terrorists if all we do has no impact on actually protecting American citizens?
Any comments, improvements or criticisms?
We need to formalize how we maintain these watch lists and the suspects should be able to challenge and clear themselves of that list efficiently and with haste, and in the time being they should be flagged to not be able to buy guns.
There is no doubt that this was at least domestic terrorism.
ISIS is claiming credit for it - which is entirely possible.
Mateen had made several terrorist threats in the past and was a known member of ISIS.
ISIS threatened to attack a gay bar in Florida three days before this attack.
What value is any Terrorist Watch List if it cannot be referenced to stop people from buying guns?
I propose this as a tentative process:
1. Person is added to Terror Watch List as an internal document for the agencies use only. These are people merely considered a possible threat with some amount of evidence to support that concern.
2. The person commits an act considered to be a form of terrorism. For example he joins ISIS or he contacts them saying he wants to join, or he joins a Wahhabi mosque with a radical cleric noted internally as one that encourages Islamic violence, or he makes threats to attack any establishment.
3. He then gets put before an internal board that decides whether to put him on a Terrorist Restriction List. Being on this list means you cannot buy a gun, an airplane ticket or anything that the BATFE considers a dangerous material. The person being put on the list is notified of the ongoing process and asks him to explain his behavior. He is given 30 days to respond. AS this is a case of agency law and not criminal law, he has no criminal protections and does not have the right to a lawyer.
4. The board decides to put him on the list or not to. IF they do he has the restrictions listed above and he has the time to appeal or request being removed from the list, etc. The list would be dynamic with names going on and some coming off over time.
5. If the person on the Terrorist Restriction List attempts to buy any of the restricted items, he gets a visit from the FBI, BATF, etc to investigate the nature of his activity.
Since by this process Mateen would have been on the restricted list over a year ago, this process would have stopped the purchases of the guns used in Florida's massacre this weekend. What is the point of monitoring and watching the terrorists if all we do has no impact on actually protecting American citizens?
Any comments, improvements or criticisms?
