On the recordDecember 8, 2015
we talk in this Chamber every day about the threat of terrorism and many associated terrorist threats with airplanes and explosives, but we have seen in recent horrifying events in Paris and in San Bernardino how much tragic carnage can be wrought by a small number of people using firearms designed for war. They are using assault weapons that have the purpose to kill and maim human beings--no other purpose. For me and for the American people, common sense says a person too dangerous to be permitted on a plane is too dangerous to be permitted a gun. No fly, no gun. No check, no gun. That ought to be the rule. It is a commonsense rule. When I talk to people in Connecticut and they say to me ``Why didn't the Senate approve that rule?'' there is no commonsense explanation. The reason given by colleagues on the other side that there is some due process violation is nonsense. I hesitate to say it is that frivolous, but it is because, No. 1, there is a right to challenge the designation on the no-fly list through the Department of Homeland Security, which has to provide reasons and an opportunity to challenge it. Also, under Senator Feinstein's bill, there is an additional safeguard to constitutional rights because it can be challenged through the Department of Justice, which is required to establish an administrative process and then an appeal--a right of appeal to the Federal courts. Anybody denied permission to buy a gun has a right of appeal.…
