On First Anniversary of Fort Hood Shootings, Lautenberg Calls for Closing of 'Terror Gap' U.S. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) highlighted the need for Congress to close gaping holes in our laws that allow known and suspected terrorists to purchase guns and dangerous explosives
PoliticalNews.me - Nov 05,2010 - NEWARK – On the first anniversary of the Fort Hood shooting, U.S. Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) highlighted the need for Congress to close gaping holes in our laws that allow known and suspected terrorists to purchase guns and dangerous explosives in the United States. The “Terror Gap” loophole allows the sale of guns and explosives to people on the nation’s Terror Watch List.
“On this first anniversary of the Fort Hood shootings, my thoughts go out to the victims’ families and survivors. This anniversary also reminds me that we haven’t taken common sense steps since the Ft. Hood tragedy to close the gaping holes in our nation’s laws that allow terrorists and those with ties to terrorists to access deadly weapons,” Lautenberg said. “Now is the time to act before terrorists exploit our laws and carry out another attack.”
Lautenberg released a report last month examining the dangers posed to the United States by a commando-style terrorism attack using guns or explosives. The report points to the shootings at Ft. Hood and Little Rock, Arkansas, as well as the attempted bombing in Times Square, as demonstrating the interest and ability of terrorists to launch attacks in the United States using readily-available firearms and explosives.
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) has investigated the dangers presented by the “Terror Gap.” A GAO report revealed that between February 2004 and February 2010, there were 1,228 cases in which individuals on the Terror Watch List attempted to purchase a gun or explosive. In 91 percent of those cases – a total of 1,119 times – they were cleared to proceed with the purchase.
