Lax gun laws help terrorists

Josey1

Lax gun laws help terroristsBy Thomas Oliphant, Globe Staff, 9/25/2001WASHINGTON THE DAY BEFORE the United States was attacked this month, there was a revealing jury verdict in Detroit that demonstrates not only how porous this country is for terrorists but also what a genuinely bipartisan response to the serious threat should look like.On Sept. 10, in what was as close to an open-and-shut case as you can get, two brothers were convicted on a variety of federal weapons law violations plus conspiracy to ship stuff to the terrorist organization Hezbollah in Lebanon.The weapons and ammunition they almost succeeded in smuggling abroad included numerous items purchased at gun shows - the ideal shopping mall for criminals in general and terrorists in particular and one that has been used repeatedly for a decade.As if anyone needs reminding of how a crook-friendly system operates in the United States, one of those brothers (with a red-flag felony record on a previous grand theft rap) could go shopping at gun shows in Michigan because federal and state law does not require that thorough background checks on would-be weapons buyers be completed before such sales by unlicensed ''dealers.''Just for the record, Ali Boumelhem was arrested in November of last year before he could depart with a one-way ticket back to Lebanon, along with his brother Mohamed.According to press reports and the court record, the arrest came after lengthy surveillance and the discovery on a Lebanon-bound ship of an auto parts container whose cargo included shotguns, ammunition, flash suppressors, assault weapons parts, and a police scanner.His brother, with a previously clean record, could go shopping for his mass-murdering buddies at gun stores anywhere. But Ali, operating unchecked at gun shows, was special. The government surveillance of him included an informant sighting of him in Beirut unloading previous shipments of weapons and explosive as well as video of him firing automatic weapons in Lebanon and proclaiming his Hezbollah association (he's a leader in its Amal militia).It is understandable in the wake of the mass murder here and in New York that the authorities are scrambling to begin seriously protecting American citizens (who comprise the front line in this new war) from spectacular assaults from the air or from other weapons of mass destruction.But the federal authorities mobilizing around the clock are just as worried about the solitary suicide bomber or spray-shooter, especially now that the myth of American invulnerability to terrorism has been so decisively punctured.For that kind of terrorism, the gun show is ideal. The issue now is whether ideology and politics can continue to keep it so.From the FBI and the military to local police departments, the idea now is supposed to be that any facet of life in this country that facilitates mass murder must be scrutinized with fresh intolerance; after repeated warnings, homeland defense of our citizen front line is on its way to creation.But when the Justice Department made its initial legislative recommendations to strengthen law enforcement, all the proposals dealt with detention of immigrants and intelligence gathering; Attorney General John Ashcroft, a progun fanatic, left alone the swiss cheese gun laws that made the Hezbollah operation in this country so easy.The effort to close the ridiculous gun show loopholes is already bipartisan, pushed by Senators John McCain and Joseph Lieberman. In the negotiations over new domestic security law, McCain-Lieberman belongs in the mix.For those who have slept through the last few decades, bipartisanship is not our normal state of affairs. When it becomes essential, like right now, it doesn't simply descend from the heavens; it is constructed, painstakingly, on the ground. People who typically disagree take items off their own agendas and accept items from other's agendas for a greater, vital purpose. To work it takes a constant effort.From the progressive world, there have already been a host of concessions, most notably the end for now of frontal assaults on President Bush's missile defense plans. There is also a serious attempt to negotiate domestic security proposals that are both flexible and respectful of the Constitution. It is difficult work, and there are concerns on the right as well, but the chances of consensus remain good.It hardly endangers that consensus to add to these talks a virtual imperative to fix a ridiculous legal situation that makes it easy for terrorists to shop for the very instruments of their business.Hezbollah is big-time terrorism. From its murky ranks came mass murders and hostage-taking of Americans in the region in the 1980s. Its targeting of Israelis today is despicable, and its state sponsorship from the likes of Iran and Syria is, if anything, more nearly overt than any assistance that Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network receives.Ultimately, any worldwide assault on terror networks with international tentacles that leaves Hezbollah standing would be a joke.In the meantime, it's not too much to insist that we should make it much harder for terrorists to shop for weapons in this country.Thomas Oliphant's e-mail address is oliphant@globe.com.This story ran on page A19 of the Boston Globe on 9/25/2001.c Copyright 2001 Globe Newspaper Company.