I am very disturbed by the train of thought percolating through the Political Industrial Complex the last day or two.

[Political Industrial Complex = Career politicians, their career staff, the sea of political consultants, the crony donors and their lobbyists, the career lead bureaucrats, and of course the pliant “news” media. Basically, the political insiders who like to believe they are “elite”]

The reaction to the Orlando Radical Islamic Terror massacre has emphasized how misguided and distracted the Political Industrial Complex is.  It has emphasized how distant and unconnected from reality these people have become in their limos and gated communities. It has emphasized why they need to be fired.

Apparently, due to the Orlando massacre, it is time to suspend our constitutional rights!

Imagine if the federal government suspended your right to your faith, your right to assemble and your right to speak your mind based on your inclusion on a secret list of American citizens with no prior due process and no open explanation of how you got on that list or how you can get off of it.

Absurd, right? So, why is it absurd to apply that scenario to your 1st amendment rights, but it’s “common sense” when it comes to your 2nd amendment rights?

I listened to Larry O’Connor – author of this great piece – debate his “conservative” side kick on WMAL Radio. It was disgusting.  His side kick asked the dumb question “if they cannot fly, why can they buy a gun?”

Because [insert your favorite insult to intellect here] flying is not a constitutional right! But even worse – this idea WOULD NOT have stopped the Orlando massacre. So why even tie this dumb idea to an event if it wouldn’t solve the risk??

Why? Because the PIC does not care about the victims, it cares about its agenda, its power base, its echo chambers.

O’Connor points out this is all a shell game, because the “no fly” list is not what Congress is proposing,  it is a falsehood for the “too dumb” masses:

But the aide said Feinstein has sometimes referred to the no-fly database rather than the broader one her legislation actually covers for this reason: “That’s more relatable to the average person — people have heard of the no-fly list, not necessarily [ones like] the National Counterterrorism Center’s TIDE database.

… clearly, the Democrats aren’t looking to actually get anything done. They are looking for a fund-raising issue and a divisive wedge issue to polarize Republicans and those of us who crave our liberty over pretty much everything else.

The larger secret list contains around a millions names. But even if it contained 10 names, trading our rights away is not the answer.

Omar Mateen was on the FBI’s radar.  They were even informed of his attempts to buy bullets and body armor:

Abell said that Mateen asked for level 3 body armor, but the store doesn’t sell it. He also said Mateen made a phone call and spoke Arabic before asking for bulk ammunition.

The employees did not sell him any ammunition and Abell stated that “we contacted FBI direct” after Mateen left the store, but they were “not as attentive as we would have hoped.”

So even when notified, the FBI (and the administration overall) seems to be very hesitant to pursue  threats when the threat is from a Muslim. Hesitant to the point of paralyzed it seems.  Which is not a surprise, since the administration bans the words that best describe Radical Islamic Terrorism. Hell, they even want to ban the phrase “Illegal Alien”!

Here are my proposals:

• The “no-fly” list and other well maintained lists should be tied to all gun background checks – if they aren’t already.
• The gun sale cannot be stopped in some cases where the persons rights are still intact, but it can be suspended briefly. During the suspension law enforcement then contacts the individual and explains clearly to them they are deemed a threat. This could divert some from a rash act, but probably not someone like Omar Mateen. At a minimum though, this interview would allow law enforcement to decide whether to implement constant surveillance in case the person is not to be diverted. If Mateen had been under surveillance, then the attack in Orlando might have been stopped before it started. Yeah, this is more work – but many have died for our Constitution so buck up.
• It should also be illegal for any non-citizen to purchase any gun until they have been in the US 12 months and they have legal documents. This is just common sense. If caught with a gun illegally they are immediately deported. This would basically put a ban on gun purchases to all those who have crossed our borders in the last year under Obama’s foolish actions.

These three basic things could make a huge difference. Much more of a difference than banning gun sales to people who have not yet been proven guilty of any crimes.

We should not let terrorists or deluded political “elites” rip up our constitution, and we must think of ways to make another Orlando massacre very difficult to pull off. In my humble opinion these steps would do that.

Update: Idea number 4 – allow clubs to hire people with military or police experience (and I would restrict this to only former military and police given their training) to be armed security for large clubs, etc.  A lone wolf will not take on an armed fortress.

Update 2: More details on the gun store that informed the FBI of Mateen’s interest in body armor – and a possible co-conspirator (or more likely handler)

You heard right. When denied the purchase of body armor, “Lone Wolf” Omar Mateen got on the phone, had a conversation in a foreign language and then started asking about purchasing large quantities of ammunition.

He had a handler for sure. When the body armor was not available he asked for guidance on what to do.  He was directed to ask for “bulk ammo”.

Tags: Constitution, Gun Ban, No Fly List, Orlando Massacre