To the Editor:

As a North Carolina citizen, I could not understand why our senators voted against a bill that would deny the purchase of a weapon by those persons placed on a “No Fly” terrorist watch list by the FBI. 

I called Sen. Tillis' office and spoke to Luke Blanchard, an administrative assistant on legislative affairs for Tillis. He told me that the U.S. Attorney General already has the power to block persons on the No Fly list from buying a gun. This is blatantly false and misleading. The Attorney General can only block that sale if they find some other reason, like documented mental illness or a criminal record, but being placed on the terrorist watch list by the FBI does not allow the Attorney General to block that sale.

In fact, according to General Accounting Office, between 2004 and 2014 out of 2,233 persons on the No Fly list that tried to purchase a weapon, 2,043 were able to clear a background check and purchase the weapon and only 190 were blocked because there was some reason other than being on the No Fly list.  

When I told Mr. Blanchard that information was completely false, he then began to justify Tillis' vote because many people have mistakenly been placed on a No Fly list, with Sen. Ted Kennedy being his prime example.  

Once again, this information is completely false. According to the Transportation Security Administration, Kennedy was never on a No Fly list and never missed or had to cancel any flights. In 2004 Kennedy was briefly detained for further questioning because there was someone named T. Kennedy that was on the No Fly list. Sen. Kennedy was cleared after a brief screening and caught his flight without any problem. 

North Carolina citizens have the right to expect our government to keep weapons of war out of the hands of suspected terrorists. They also deserve honesty and truthfulness from the offices of our senators, not myths and false and misleading information.

Ed Morris

Franklin