ISIS Finds Another Tool To Wage Terror–Our Lax Gun Laws (TWEET)


Earlier this month, the Iraqi government declared that it had chased the Islamic State out of its territory. But it doesn’t look like ISIS is going down quietly. That much was made clear earlier this week, when the jihadist group released a propaganda video urging its American followers to carry out attacks in its name. How? By taking advantage of loopholes in our gun laws.

The video’s narrator, whom the group claims is American–per The Washington Post–trolled Trump as a “dog of Rome” who has amply demonstrated his “fangs and hatred toward Islam.” But then he addressed ISIS’ sympathizers in this country, telling them how easy it is to wage jihad on our shores.

“Take advantage of the fact that you can easily obtain a rifle or a pistol in America. Spray the kuffar (infidels) with bullets so that their fear of the Muslims rises and they continue to reveal their hatred towards Islam.”

For some time, counterterrorism experts have expressed concern that our gun laws are so lax that they make it all too easy for terrorists to wreak havoc. For instance, Nicholas Rasmussen of the National Counterterrorism Center warned that terrorists face few roadblocks to “gaining access to weapons that are quite lethal.”


However, in what can only be described as a discouraging sign, legislation to ban bump stocks in the wake of the Vegas massacre seems to have stalled. Despite bipartisan support and the National Rifle Association giving its blessing, there has been no major action on the bill since Halloween, when it was sent to the Ways and Means Committee.

Incredibly, though, some elements of the anti-gun control crowd actually think gun control measures may help ISIS.

Translation: “The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” Uh huh. So a bunch of good guys can take down a jihadist wielding an AR-15, or a guy with a semi-automatic that has effectively been turned into an automatic with the help of a bump stock? Good luck with that.


Tellingly, the NRA doesn’t seem to have responded to this report. Perhaps it knows that, as was the case with the Vegas shooting and the Texas church shooting, there really is nothing it can say. Hopefully when Congress comes back from vacation, it can take advantage of this opening. It would be a first step toward ending the NRA-imposed inertia on gun control. After all, it’s now a matter of national security.

(featured image courtesy 3aref, available under a Creative Commons BY-SA license)

Darrell is a 30-something graduate of the University of North Carolina who considers himself a journalist of the old school. An attempt to turn him into a member of the religious right in college only succeeded in turning him into the religious right's worst nightmare--a charismatic Christian who is an unapologetic liberal. His desire to stand up for those who have been scared into silence only increased when he survived an abusive three-year marriage. You may know him on Daily Kos as Christian Dem in NC. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook. Click here to buy Darrell a Mello Yello.