Today, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) reintroduced the "Terror Intelligence Improvement Act," a bill that would make it even harder for suspected terrorists to possess firearms.
Rubio intends to pass comprehensive gun reform that arms the innocent and totally prevents dangerous individuals from getting their hands on guns.
The issue is very personal to Rubio, as the horrendous Pulse Night Club Attack that left 50 dead, occurred in his state. Rubio claims that after Pulse, it became his, "promise" to keep terrorists armless, in order to prevent similar occurrences in the future.
The bill makes the following revisions to the current gun laws and process:
- Consolidate all federal terrorism investigation intelligence under the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), strengthening the FBI’s capabilities and making sure dangerous individuals do not fall through the cracks.
- Require the FBI Director and the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) be immediately notified of any request to transfer a firearm to an individual who was the subject of a federal terrorism investigation within the last 10 years.
- When an individual who was the subject of a federal terrorism investigation within the last 10 years tries to obtain a firearm, allow the U.S. Attorney General to delay the purchase or transfer for up to ten business days and file an emergency petition in court to prevent the transfer. If the court finds probable cause that the individual is or has been engaged in terrorism, the Attorney General may arrest the individual.
- Protect the due process rights of law-abiding Americans by ensuring emergency petitions filed by the Attorney General are only granted if the transferee receives notice of the hearing and has the opportunity to participate with legal counsel. If the court denies the Attorney General’s petition, the federal government is responsible for all reasonable costs and attorneys’ fees.
- Require the Inspector General of the Intelligence Community (IC IG) to conduct an audit of the federal government’s terrorism screening and watch list procedures, and identify any problems in the processes of adding or removing individuals from the system. Based on the audit, the IC IG must then submit a report to the Senate and House Intelligence Committees with recommendations for improving the system.
With this bill, we should hope to see more, "common-sense" reform, as Rubio calls it. For too long we have allowed modern gun reform to punish the innocent along with the guilty however, Rubio's bill will improve safety as well as preserving the Second Amendment.
