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Rich Zeoli: Democrats Against Due Process

By Rich Zeoli

Denying citizens the right to buy guns without a judge or jury.

"Nor shall any person . . . be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law" - Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- There is a fundamental concept enshrined in our justice system that one is innocent until proven guilty. The Due Process clause of the Constitution provides that the government can't just arbitrarily take away your rights. In the wake of the Orlando terror attack, Democrats are once again showing their true authoritarian stripes as they want to take away the Constitutional rights of millions of Americans, many of whom are Muslim, without a judge or jury.

Democrats including Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Senator Harry Reid, and others, repeatedly utter the phrase "If you are too dangerous to fly you are too dangerous to buy a gun." But much like how an "assault" weapon is a pejorative, this phrase is meaningless. Who decides one is too dangerous to board an airplane? A judge? A jury? Not so much. We don't actually even know the full process by which the government denies a United States citizen their fundamental freedom to travel. We do know that the burden is on the individual placed on the list to prove their innocence if they ever want to fly again.

There was a time when Democrats joined with libertarian minded conservatives and the ACLU to denounce the "No Fly List" an unconstitutional denial of Due Process. But now it's obvious that this stand was just an attempt to win votes. Even though many American citizens who follow the Islamic faith are probably on the no fly list, that doesn't stop Democrats from simultaneously wanting to deprive them of their due process rights while denouncing Donald Trump for an immigration ban.

One thing is certain. American citizens, Muslim or otherwise, are entitled to Due Process. Non citizens, Muslim or otherwise, have no constitutional right to emigrate to the United States of America. Regardless if you agree with Trump's temporary ban, it is constitutional, unlike what Democrats are trying to do to Muslim citizens.

Not satisfied with denying American citizens one constitutional right, due process, Democrats now want to deny a second right, the second amendment. They want to expand the "No Fly List" to the "No Buy List" thus prohibiting anyone on this list from buying a gun. No judge. No jury. No due process. Just another arbitrary list. Once you are on it, it's on you to prove your innocence. Guilty until proven innocent, thanks to Democrats.

This is the definition of authoritarianism. Denial of constitutional rights in order to achieve law and order. In this case, their intended goal is less gun violence. It won't help. Regardless. the methods are unconstitutional and all Americans should join with conservatives in denouncing this fascist denial of libert

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