Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Terror watch list for guns?

In a recent discussion online, I had a person who is in favor of more gun control tell me that anyone on the terror watch list should be entered into NICS as a prohibited person. Here is why I cannot support this: (read the entire thing if you want to start your day angry)

Myth: The No-Fly list includes an 8-year-old boy.
Buster: No 8-year-old is on a T.S.A. watch list.
“Meet Mikey Hicks,” said Najlah Feanny Hicks, introducing her 8-year-old son, a New Jersey Cub Scout and frequent traveler who has seldom boarded a plane without a hassle because he shares the name of a suspicious person. “It’s not a myth.”
Mrs. Hicks said the family was amused by the mistake at first. But that amusement quickly turned to annoyance and anger. It should not take seven years to correct the problem, Mrs. Hicks said. 
The real problem is that such a list exists in the first place. After all, it isn't that hard to beat:

Some travelers purposely misspell their own names when buying tickets, apparently enough to fool the system. 

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