Congressman John Garamendi Plans to Reintroduce ‘No Fly, No Buy’ Bill

POSTED 11:24 PM, JUNE 14, 2016, BY DOUG JOHNSON, UPDATED AT 11:13PM, JUNE 14, 2016

SACRAMENTO -- Congressman John Garamendi said he'll re-introduce his bill, which will prohibit those who are on a federal "no fly" list from buying guns. He's titled it the "No Fly, No Buy" bill, one which failed to pass on the floor last December.

"We're talking about suspected terrorist that are not allowed to fly," Garamendi told FOX40.

Garamendi represents California's 3rd Congressional District and said he knows his bill has an uphill battle.

"The current leadership says no, it will never be on the floor, but we're going to collect enough signatures to bring it to a vote," Garamendi said.

But if it did pass, some question if it will hold up in court, since flying on a plane is not a constitutional right like gun ownership.

"It's just another hurdle, another wall separating you from your Second Amendment rights, and it's going to face an uphill battle in the federal courts," said defense attorney Mark Reichel, who has handled several high-profile terrorism cases.

Reichel said the "no fly" list is already a flawed system that initially doesn't give those on it a day in court.

"You're not told you're on the "no fly" list until you try to get on the plane," Reichel said.

Reichel said the federal government has admitted in the past a large percent of the 16,000 people on it were put there mistakenly.

"With 35 percent of all those placed on the 'no fly' list being incorrectly placed there it doesn't bode well for future litigation for the don't buy list," Reichel said.

According to Reichel, appealing to have your name taken off the list is a lengthy process and costly.

"I think any lawyer is going to probably charge the
average person close to $75,000 in hourly fees even at $450 an hour to litigate something like that," Reichel told FOX40.

"Yes it's hard to get off it because it's hard to get on the 'no fly' list," Garamendi said.

Restricting those who can buy guns is nothing new, it's just laws needs to be updated, he said.

"In California if you have a court order about spousal abuse, you can't buy a gun. If you have a mental issue you can't buy a gun... But if you are on a 'no fly' terrorist list you can go out and buy an AR-15."

The Orlando shooter, Omar Mateen, was not on the "no fly" list.

http://fox40.com/2016/06/14/congress...y-no-buy-bill/