ACLU Opposes No-Fly List But Favors Using It to Ban Guns

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security, saying the no-fly list is an unconstitutional violation of due process rights, yet the group favors using the list to keep people from getting guns.

Republican Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan opposes both the no-fly list and using it to prevent gun purchases, and made his thoughts known on Twitter.

Putting someone on no-fly list without due process and infringing on someone's right to keep & bear arms without due process are both wrong.

— Justin Amash (@justinamash) December 7, 2015

"Putting someone on the no-fly list without due process and infringing on someone’s right to keep and bear arms without due process are both wrong," Reason.com quoted Amash as saying.

Hina Shamsi, the director of the ACLU National Security Project, told BuzzFeed News "t]here is no constitutional bar to reasonable regulation of guns, and the No Fly List could serve as one tool for it, but only with major reform."

Robby Soave, writing at the libertarian Reason, called that position "striking hypocrisy."

"The ACLU recognizes that the no-fly list is a due-process travesty, but still thinks it could serve as a basis for gun control?" Soave wrote. "The 'but only with major reform' qualification is hardly reassuring."

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