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A Solid Foundation

By Dave Henderson
Thursday, June 25, 2009

Anyone who has been within three city blocks of a commercial airport since 9/11 knows that things have changed and security is significantly tighter. While most reasonable people understand the need for tighter airport security, one thing that has brought the ire of both conservative and liberal alike is the secret federal no-fly list. According to a report by Steve Kroft of the CBS 20-20 news show, who obtained a copy of the list, "Before 9/11, the government's list of suspected terrorists banned from air travel totaled just 16 names. Today there are 44,000 names. That doesn't include people the government thinks should be pulled aside for additional security screening. There are another 75,000 people on that list." According to the "TSA" website there are over 400,000 people in total and the watch list, according to the TSA, is the responsiblity of the FBI. Now, keep that in mind as you read further.

The interesting thing about this list is that you do not need to be convicted of a crime to be on it. In fact, all it takes is suspicion on the part of some faceless government employee. To be listed on the "No-Fly" list can mean a range of intrusions from extra questioning to a total denial of travel.

While I have no problem with keeping terrorists off of our airlines and I'm sure there are people who should be on a no-fly list, I have a fundamental problem with the concept of government black lists, without due process of law or a reasonable means of appeal. It is a known fact that thousands of people have been unjustly placed on this list and there are countless people who are routinely detained or denied travel because they share a name with one who is black-listed. One thing is for sure. Once you are on this list, it is next to impossible to get off of it. One elderly veteran was denied boarding privileges because he was in possession of a suspicious metal object in a box which he refused to throw in the trash. The elderly man was in route to a convention where he would be the guest of honor. The suspicious metal object must have looked like some kind of Ninja throwing star weapon to the TSA screener. It was the Congressional Medal of Honor, which he had been awarded during World War Two. The 86 year old gentlemen was war hero Marine Corps General Joseph J. Foss.

Now we learn that the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has decided that this black list is also now an acceptable reason for the denial of our Constitutionally Guaranteed civil rights. The GAO found, in a 2005 report, that the FBI cleared gun purchases for 80 percent of terror watch subjects who applied. The May 2009 report shows that the percentage has gone up; of 963 background checks, 865 were given the go-ahead to purchase the firearm.

Instead of asking why those 963 people, who passed an FBI background check, were on the black list with no means of appeal, the GAO is now recommending to congress that the no-fly black list be used to deny firearm purchases and, therefore deny the individuals Constitutional Rights under the second amendment. After all, if they are on the "list" they must be guilty right?

A government secret black list is a blatant violation of the 5th, 6th and 7th Amendments to the constitution and the courts have opened the route for civil law suits. That's if you have deep enough pockets to take on the Attorney General and Uncle Sam. One cannot even find out if you are on this list until your right of free movement is denied or now under this proposal you are denied your civil rights under the second amendment.

This is an affront to the most basic principles of the U.S. Constitution. The Constitution is the foundation that our country is built on. Like the foundation to any very large structure, chipping away at it will eventually cause the structure to fail. Many in office on both sides of the isle now seem to think that, if they cannot pass their vision of utopia within the framework of the Constitution, they will simply circumvent it. After all, they can't let that pesky little paper called the U.S. Constitution get in the way of real progress, now can they?

This article was first published on Thursday, June 25, 2009 at 4:08 pm. This article has been viewed 816 times.

Dave Henderson is the Vice-President of Operations for RIMOFTHEWORLD.net and it's parent company Vicinitas, LLC. Dave is the commercial and operational manager for the site.

The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of RIMOFTHEWORLD.net. This column is copyrighted by Dave Henderson.