The National Rifle Association Doesn’t Give A Flying Rip About Mental Illnesses, The Constitution Or Your Civil Liberties
Two months ago, the National Rifle Association (NRA) joined an American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit over the National Security Agency’s (NSA) phone metadata collection program, most recently published by Glenn Greenwald based on leaked documents from Edward Snowden.
The NRA, which is the most powerful organization in the massively influential gun lobby, believes the collection of anonymous phone metadata — the date, time and phone number called — to be a violation of the First Amendment’s freedom of assembly, and so it claimed exactly that in a document submitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals’ Second Circuit, after U.S. District Judge William H. Pauley upheld NSA’s metadata program.
“The mass surveillance program could allow identification of NRA members, supporters, potential members, and other persons with whom the NRA communicates, potentially chilling their willingness to communicate with the NRA,” the brief states.
The NRA also cited a Stanford University study in which a pair of students were able to ascertain personally identifiable information from metadata: “We were able to infer medical conditions, firearm ownership, and more, using solely phone metadata.”
Of course the study failed to address the fact that metadata belonging to U.S. Persons (citizens and anyone visiting the U.S.) is encrypted and therefore anonymized in accordance with strict Department of Justice minimization procedures. The only legal way to decrypt the metadata is to acquire an individual court order from a FISA judge justifying why the target is relevant to an investigation, and only after digging through several other layers of reports and bureaucracy. All of this was revealed not by NSA, but via Snowden documents.
Nevertheless, the NRA clearly doesn’t like the idea of the government keeping a database with completely anonymous details of phone calls, only accessible via a warrant. After all, it might reveal “medical conditions” and the like.
Then why do you suppose the NRA, along with its thoroughly purchased supporters from both parties (but mainly the GOP), support the idea of creating a national, FBI-managed database of all Americans who at one time or another were diagnosed with a mental illness? This list wouldn’t be anonymous; it wouldn’t be supervised by a court with warrants issued before revealing names and other extraordinarily private details to any random gun store owner.
Just after the Sandy Hook massacre, the NRA’s Wayne LaPierre demanded action on such a list, “How can we possibly even guess how many, given our nation’s refusal to create an active national database of the mentally ill?” He continued, “We have a mental health system in this country that has completely and totally collapsed. We have no national database of these lunatics.”
So we’re to understand that LaPierre’s position is that having a database of gun purchases, much like state vehicle registrations or federal income tax records, is unconstitutional. Likewise, having a database of totally anonymous metadata at Fort Meade is both lawsuit-worthy and unconstitutional. Yet having a comprehensive national database of everyone with a mental illness (LaPierre doesn’t specify the severity or lack thereof) is not only necessary but perfectly constitutional.
Huh?
Let’s add a twist to this ridiculousness… READ MORE
Click here for reuse options!Copyright 2014 Liberaland
By: Bob Cesca
Bob Cesca is the managing editor at The Daily Banter (www.thedailybanter.com) and a Huffington Post contributor since 2005. He's worked in journalism since 1988 as a print writer/editor, a radio news anchor, a digital media columnist/editor, a book author and blogger. He's the co-host of the Bubble Genius Bob & Chez Show podcast and a Thursday regular on the syndicated Stephanie Miller Show. He's appeared on numerous other radio shows including the John Phillips Show and Geraldo Rivera Show in Los Angeles. Bob has been a commentator/analyst on the BBC (TV and radio), MSNBC, Current TV, CNN and Sky News. Following him on Twitter: @bobcesca_go
8 responses to The National Rifle Association Doesn’t Give A Flying Rip About Mental Illnesses, The Constitution Or Your Civil Liberties
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
William May 28th, 2014 at 08:56
“How can we possibly even guess how many, given our nation’s refusal to create an active national database of the mentally ill?”
Well, I guess we need a list.
Welcome to the list Wayne.
William May 28th, 2014 at 08:56
“How can we possibly even guess how many, given our nation’s refusal to create an active national database of the mentally ill?”
Well, I guess we need a list.
Welcome to the list Wayne.
John Boy May 28th, 2014 at 09:14
And how do we define mental illness for the purposes of Mr. LaPierre’s public list of “lunatics?” Does a person who takes an occasional ativan for anxiety disorder find him/herself on a public list of lunatics for everyone to see? Or a person who suffers bouts of depression? Or OCDC? Imagine being on this public “lunatic” list LaPierre advocates. Forget finding a good job – or even keeping the one you have. Suddenly your friends and neighbors hush up when you walk by. They no longer seem to have the time to socialize with you. None of this matters, of course, to Mr. LaPierre. Afterall, if hundreds of children being slaughtered at close range every year has no effect on him, millions of people being effectively ostracized from society as “lunatics” won’t matter.
If Mr. LaPierre is successful in getting his public list of “lunatics,” I have a suggestion for the first person to be on the list.
William May 28th, 2014 at 09:23
Oh yeah, nothing says NRA credibility and dignified dedication to ending gun violence like a lunatic waving a gun around on stage and threatening the President.
John Boy May 28th, 2014 at 09:14
And how do we define mental illness for the purposes of Mr. LaPierre’s public list of “lunatics?” Does a person who takes an occasional ativan for anxiety disorder find him/herself on a public list of lunatics for everyone to see? Or a person who suffers bouts of depression? Or OCD? Imagine being on this public “lunatic” list LaPierre advocates. Forget finding a good job – or even keeping the one you have. Suddenly your friends and neighbors hush up when you walk by. They no longer seem to have the time to socialize with you. None of this matters, of course, to Mr. LaPierre. Afterall, if hundreds of children being slaughtered at close range every year has no effect on him, millions of people being effectively ostracized from society as “lunatics” won’t matter.
If Mr. LaPierre is successful in getting his public list of “lunatics,” I have a suggestion for the first two people to be on the list: LaPierre himself. And NRA board member Ted Nugent.
William May 28th, 2014 at 09:23
Oh yeah, nothing says NRA credibility and dignified dedication to ending gun violence like a lunatic waving a gun around on stage and threatening the President.
Maxx44 May 28th, 2014 at 10:04
Remember when 1/2 gov. Palin accused Obama of “Paling around with domestic terrorists”? Since she’s the darling of the NRA, America’s most prominent domestic terrorist organization, isn’t she a bit of a hypocrite?
Maxx44 May 28th, 2014 at 10:04
Remember when 1/2 gov. Palin accused Obama of “Paling around with domestic terrorists”? Since she’s the darling of the NRA, America’s most prominent domestic terrorist organization, isn’t she a bit of a hypocrite?