HOW DO WE KEEP GUNS OUT OF THE HANDS OF THOSE ON THE TERRORIST WATCH LIST WITHOUT VIOLATING DUE PROCESS

Author: Diane Yandach

This note addresses the procedural and substantive legal issues that need to be addressed before proposals to prohibit individuals on terrorist and no-fly lists from purchasing guns could be implemented without violating constitutional rights. Currently, individuals on these lists are often unaware of their inclusion, and when they do discover it they are rarely able to discover the reason behind it, nor can they easily appeal the decision. As it stands a blanket prohibition on gun purchases by all individuals on these lists would violate both due process and 2nd Amendment rights. The note begins by giving an overview of due process and 2nd Amendment case law as applied to the no-fly list. Next the author addresses the constitutional violations that currently arise for those on the no-fly list. The note concludes by proposing that the creation of an administrative agency to adjudicate claims related to no-fly list would allow the expansion of the list from no-fly to no-buy.

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