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EPIC Sues FBI Over Terrorist Screening Database
octaene writes "The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) has applied for an emergency court order (pdf) requiring the FBI to release information about the Terrorist Screening Database and its role in Secure Flight, the government's proposed passenger prescreening system. Secure Flight will compare passenger records against information in the database, which will include expanded 'Selectee' and 'No-Fly' lists. EPIC argued that information about the database must be made available prior to the October 25 deadline for public comments on the Transportation Security Administration's plans for testing Secure Flight."
Thank you! For the first time EVER I've seen someone argue the facts about guns on Slashdot besides me! Thank you thank you thank you! BTW, California banned guns not by function but by appearance. Literally. They took a book of guns with pictures and decided what should be banned by what LOOKED lethal. In fact that banned a number of extremely common deer rifle models that happened to have black synthetic stocks while leaving their siblings with identical actions alone. The California ban is a joke. Somewhere I have a link to an article about the 2 people that put it together. I want to say it was the CA AG and Lt. Governor. The email was a response to the other's question about involving CA's Bureua of Investigation and some other professional group. The author said that he didn't want to invole that state's BI or the other professional LEO group because their conclusion wouldn't support the position that they wanted to take on guns. That's mighty telling if you ask me. I unfortunately live in one of 4 states that doesn't permit some form of concealed carry and our crime rate is abnormally high. You would think that here in Kansas we would have a low crime rate. Nope. We were the 32nd largest state in population in 2000 but had the 19th highest TCI (crime rate). You sir are going on my friend list.
The Assault Weapon Ban DIDN'T BAN ASSAULT WEAPONS !! Assault weapons have had a hefty tax on them since 1934. If you had the patience and lots of $$ you could still legally buy one though. They've been banned outright since 1986 by a poison pill amendment to the Firearm Owners Protection Act of 1986. The Assault Weapons Ban wasn't an assault weapons ban at all. It had nothing to do with assault weapons. Assault weapons are by definition a selectable fire military weapon that can be fired as a fully automatic or as a semi-automatic. Fully automatics were already illegal when Clinton passed the AWB. The text of the AWB didn't ban fully automatics anyhow. It simply banned specific costmetic features like pistol grips, bayonets, stocks, and mag capacities. What makes my Glock 22 less lethal with only 10 shots, down from the factory 13?