Republicans are incensed that President Obama and Senate Democrats want to prevent people on the no-fly and terrorist watch lists from purchasing firearms.
And narrowly they’re correct that Democrats are being gimmicky and demagogic about this. Permissive gun laws might be bad, but they are what they are, and due process is what it is. Democrats are pushing this as much to improve security as to accuse Republicans of being soft on terrorism—the same way Republicans did when Democrats objected to torture, indefinite detention, and warrantless surveillance on similar grounds.
But that doesn’t mean Republicans have any genuine claim to being champions of due process. Take Jeb Bush, for example. He told ABC this weekend that the no-fly list is “not an accurate list to be able to use for restricting gun rights for law-abiding citizens.”
But it’s perfectly fine, apparently, for restricting their access to public accommodations like commercial air travel. And remember, this is Jeb Bush, a man whose most lasting political legacy is shaping up to be the creation of an erroneous voter-purge list, which restricted voting booth access without due process in order to help steal an election for his brother (who then created the no-fly list and terrorist watch lists). These are all bad infringements on due process. Most conservatives only care about one of them.