Early Thursday on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) criticized House Republicans for denying a vote on a so-called “no-buy” gun list bill because they cited such a bill would deny due process rights.
Nadler argued he was concerned with due process rights and compared the criteria for being on a no-fly list to what he argued should be in place when it comes to purchasing a firearm.
“I am very concerned with due process rights,” Nadler said. “I’m one of the most concerned people. I opposed the Patriot Act because I was worried about due process rights. I proposed to restrict national security legislation because I was worried about due process rights, along with Bob Goodlatte and [Jim] Sensenbrenner and John Conyers – we wrote the Surveillance Reform Act because of due process rights.”
“But that’s not real here,” he continued. “What the Republicans are saying, what the speaker was saying was, ‘OK, you can be judged a dangerous person – so dangerous that we won’t let you get on an airplane. But because of due process right, because concern over due process, we can’t deprive you of your ability to buy a gun. What about your due process rights to get on the airplane?”
He went on to argue it shouldn’t be more difficult to not allow someone to purchase a handgun than it is to put the person a so-called “no-fly list” and added
“Due process right are real and they’re important and they’re vital,” he added. “But they’re no more real and vital for someone that wants to buy a gun than someone who wants to ride in an airplane. That’s no excuse. We’re using that as an excuse to put the lives of our children and our brothers and our sisters at risk for no good reason.
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