WHITE PLAINS – Congresswoman Nita Lowey is calling on Congress to pass legislation prohibiting suspects on the terror watch list from purchasing firearms.
Lowey’s effort is joined by elected officials, law enforcement and gun safety advocates.
“It should be absolutely impossible for suspects on the terror watch list to buy guns in this country,” she said on Monday. But she said suspects on the terror watch list have been buying guns from dealers in the US “with alarming success.”
She said the “despicable acts of terrorism in Paris should be a wake-up call.” Congress must immediately close “this terror gap to prevent an unspeakable tragedy on our soil.”
Lowey said from 2004 through 2014, suspects on the terror watch list attempted to purchase guns from licensed firearms dealers in the United States at least 2,233 times and were successful 2,043 times – a 91 percent success rate.
