WASHINGTON - A loophole in US law allows individuals with ties to known terror groups to purchase firerams, according to a report by a congressional watchdog group, which called Tuesday for stricter controls.
The Government Accountability Office (GAO), the investigative arm of Congress, noted in its study that membership in a terrorist organization does not prohibit an individual from legally purchasing firearms.
The GAO found that between February 3 and June 30 of last year, individuals whose names appeared on terror watch lists attempted on 44 separate occasions to legally purchase guns, and succeeded 35 times.
When the sale failed to go through, it was for reasons unrelated to their affiliation with terror organizations, such as a felony conviction or illegal immigration status.
Since the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on New York and Washington, counter-terror officials have warned that it would be easy for a terrorist to use a legally-obtained assault-style weapon to launch a terror attack on innocent civilians, and have urged Congress to tighten US weapons laws.
03/08/2005 18:19 GMT