Between a rocket launcher and a hard place

New Jersey Democratic Senator Frank Lautenberg introduced a bill late last month which would limit gun access for many Americans ... and found a lot of support from the Bush administration.

The bill, titled the "Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act of 2007" would give the US Attorney General the right to deny individuals the right to buy guns if they are on a terrorist watch list. It also has provisions to allow individuals to challenge the ban. The US Attorney General's office has come out in support of the bill.

It's not really surprising to see the AG supports passage of the bill. This stance is consistent with the administration's views on increasing the powers of the executive branch, even at the expense of the Constitution. Given the focus of promoting "the war on terror" over anything else, the administration is nearly obligated to push to have this bill enacted. What I find most interesting, though, is the bind it places on conservatives and (to a lesser extent, I think) liberals.

Conservatives first ... gun-rights advocates are up in arms over this betrayal of their sacred, god-given right to own any piece of military hardware they can lay their not yet cold, dead hands on. Remember, these are some of the same folks who favor allowing the mentally incompetent to buy guns. Still, you can absolutely bet any Republican facing re-election who votes against the legislation will face ads saying "Senator Lardbut voted to let terrorists buy guns!". Tough choice.

Liberals face a choice as well. Although most (not all) favor some form of reasonable limits on gun purchases, how can you justify stripping someone of rights citizens generally have based on nothing more than suspicion? Particularly with this administration already infamously violating FISA statutes to spy on people illegally, blatant misuse of national security letters and propensity to detain citizens indefinitely without charge.

Still, I don't think it's going to hurt Dems as much. If they vote for the bill, heck, they weren't getting votes from ardent 2nd-admendment supporters anyway. If they vote against the bill, well, liberals are all traitors anyway.

My $.02? I favor gun control, and I find I am still opposed to this bill. If someone who is an accused terrorist deserves certain rights such as habeas corpus, rights to lawyers, right to see evidence against them, etc. (all of which which I believe, and which they aren't currently receiving), then someone who isn't even an "accused" terrorist should have as much right to purchase a gun as any other citizen. Preventing convicted felons and established mentally incompetent from buying guns are reasonable restrictions. Preventing someone from exercising a right everyone else has just because they ended up, in some mysterious way, on a "watch list" is not. If the evidence against them is that strong, charge them.

It's still not going to keep me from enjoying a sense of schadenfreude observing any terrorist-loving Republican who votes against passage of this bill.