Mayors Against Illegal Guns - Closing the Gun Purchase Terror Gap

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	More than a decade after 9/11, the federal government can stop suspects on terror watch lists from getting on airplanes, but it can't stop them from buying firearms. In 2007, the Bush Administration asked Congress for legislation to close the Terror Gap, and Attorney General Eric Holder has endorsed this legislation on behalf of the Obama Administration. It's time for Congress act. Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Rep. Peter King (R-NY) have introduced S.34/H.R.1506, which gives DOJ discretion, subject to judicial review, to block sales to terror suspects. Read the coalition's letter to Congress (in PDF) Download a summary of the terror gap (in PDF) Learn more about S.34


	May 2011 - On May 12, 2011, members of the House Judiciary Committee forced a vote on an amendment that would have closed the Terror Gap. The amendment would have given the Attorney General the discretion to block the sale of firearms and explosives to terror suspects on a case-by-case basis. The Coalition strongly supports bipartisan legislation to close this deadly loophole. Read the Coalition’s letter to congress supporting the terror gap amendment (in PDF) Read the press release


	April 2011 - New data from the U.S. Government Accountability Office show that 247 people on the terror watch list purchased guns from federally-licensed dealers in 2010. The updated GAO figures also show that between February 2004 and December 2010, there were 1,453 cases in which individuals on the terror watch list were involved in a firearm or explosives background check. In 91 percent of those cases – a total of 1,321 times – they were cleared to proceed with the purchase. On three occasions, a known or suspected terrorist was cleared to purchase explosives. View the 2011 GAO update on purchases by suspected terrorists (in PDF)


	May 2010 - Mayors Against Illegal Guns calls on Congress to close the Terror Gap. New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, NYPD Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly, and Los Angeles Assistant Chief Sandy Jo MacArthur testify before the U.S. Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee about the Terror Gap. A new report from the Government Accountability Office reveals that individuals on terrorist watch lists succeeded in purchasing guns and explosives over 1100 times in the last six years. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) also released a report in May 2010 indicating that individuals on the terrorist watch list succeeded in purchasing guns and explosives from licensed dealers 1,119 times between 2004 and 2010. Read the Coalition Press Release Read the testimony from the Senate hearing Read the GAO report (in PDF)


	November 2009 - The coalition expanded its efforts to close the Terror Gap in federal law, which leaves the FBI powerless to block gun sales to terror suspects. In an ad in the Washington Post and on the companion web site www.CloseTheTerrorGap.org, the coalition called on Congress to learn from the tragedy at Fort Hood and close the Terror Gap once and for all. Download the ad (in PDF)


	During a November 2009 Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Attorney General Eric Holder indicated that the Department of Justice continues to support legislation to give FBI the power to block gun and explosive purchases by terror suspects. Such legislation had been drafted and endorsed by the Department of Justice during the Bush administration. Read the statements from the coalition co-chairs


	Closing the Terror Gap WHAT IS THE TERROR GAP? The FBI currently has no authority to block firearm and explosives sales to terror suspects. After 9/11, it makes no sense that the federal government can't stop gun and explosive sales to some of the same people it thinks are too dangerous to get on a plane. A glaring gap in federal background checks: Right now federal law prohibits nine categories of dangerous persons from purchasing or possessing firearms. Remarkably, individuals on the terror watch lists are not among these prohibited purchasers. SUPPORT FOR CLOSING THE TERROR GAP: A January 2011 American Viewpoint/Momentum Analysis bipartisan poll found that 88 percent of Americans and 88 percent of gun owners favor prohibiting people on the terror watch list from purchasing guns. Read the poll results A December 2009 Poll of NRA Members conucted by Republican pollster Frank Luntz showed that 82 percent of NRA members and 86 percent of non-members support a proposal prohibiting people on the terror watch list from purchasing guns. Read the poll results EXAMPLES OF THE TERROR GAP: Purchases documented by GAO report: A 2011 Government Accountability Office (GAO) report shows that individuals on terror watch lists tried to buy guns and explosives 1,453 times during a seven-year period (February 2004 - December 2010). On 1,321 occasions - 91 percent of attempts - the FBI was unable to block gun and explosive sales to suspected terrorists. ¹ Use of guns in terrorist incidents: Fort Hood shooting. On November 5, 2009, 13 people were shot and killed and 30 others were wounded by Major Nidal Hasan, a man who had been under investigation by the FBI, suspected of having ties to terrorists. Hasan purchased his gun after the FBI had investigated his suspicious activities, but the FBI agents who ran the gun background check never communicated with the FBI agents who had investigated Hasan. Quantico plot: On July 27, 2009, the FBI arrested seven terror suspects for conspiring to murder U.S. military personnel at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virginia. Over several years, they had amassed an arsenal of assault rifles and more than 26,000 rounds of ammunition. The ringleader, Daniel Patrick Boyd, was under investigation by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force, and in recent years, Boyd had traveled to the Middle East to meet with militants and plan various attacks. Little Rock shooting. On June 1, 2009, Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad opened fire at a military recruiting station in Little Rock, killing one private and wounding another. At the time of the shooting, the FBI was investigating Muhammad after his arrest in Yemen with a fake Somali passport. He was charged with murder and 16 counts of terrorist acts. Fort Dix plot. In 2007, six terror suspects were arrested for plotting to attack Fort Dix after trying to buy M-16s, AK-47s, and handguns from an FBI informant. One suspect pled guilty to providing firearms to illegal aliens. The other five were convicted of conspiracy to kill U.S. military personnel. Empire State Building murders. On February 23, 1997, Ali Abu Kamal opened fire on the observation deck of the Empire State Building with a handgun purchased from a licensed dealer in Florida, killing one tourist and wounding six before killing himself. A note in his pocket expressed hatred for the United States, Great Britain, Israel, and France. Halberstam murder. On March 1, 1994, Rashid Baz shot and killed 16-year old Ari Halberstam on the Brooklyn Bridge. Baz had a machine gun, a 9 mm pistol, and a "street sweeper" shotgun. CIA Headquarters attack. On January 25, 1993, Mir Aimal Kasi stopped at a red light near CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia. Shooting from point blank with an assault rifle he bought that month from a Chantilly, VA gun dealer, Kasi killed two CIA employees and wounded three others. SOLUTIONS: Bills to close the terror gap are pending in Congress. Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Rep. Peter King (R-NY) have introduced S.34/H.R.1506, which gives DOJ discretion, subject to judicial review, to block sales to terror suspects. Once DOJ made such a determination, the terror suspect would fail background checks, meaning they could not purchase guns or explosives or hold a license to sell them. If the terror suspect knew about the determination, it would be a crime to possess guns. DOJ could allow particular gun purchases to proceed to avoid tipping off the suspect. The Obama Administration Department of Justice supported passage of last year’s version of the legislation (S.1317/H.R.2159). During the Bush Administration, DOJ endorsed nearly identical bills introduced in 2007.


	1 United States Government Accountability Office, "Firearm and Explosives Background Checks Involving Terrorist Watch List Records," no. GAO-10-703T (May 5, 2010), available at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d10703t.pdf.

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