Fact checker: Rod Blum and ‘No Fly, No Buy’

Introduction

'Congressman (Rod) Blum has repeatedly refused a vote on the ‘Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act'; a bipartisan piece of legislation that would eliminate the ‘No Fly, No Buy' loophole which has been used by thousands of terror suspects in the past to legally purchase firearms and explosives.”

Source of claim: Monica Vernon, a Democrat running for Iowa's 1st District against Republican Blum, in a June 14 post on her campaign website.

Analysis

The Denying Firearms and Explosives to Dangerous Terrorists Act, first introduced in early 2015, would prohibit the sale or distribution of firearms or explosives to any individual determined by the Attorney General to be engaged in terrorist activities.

The bill, also known as the 'No Fly, No Buy” bill, would give the Attorney General authority to revoke firearms or explosives licenses and permits held by anyone involved in terrorism.

First we'll check Blum's voting record on the bill.

As of June 14, a dozen motions had been made for an immediate vote on the bill. After each motion, the House voted on whether to order it to a formal rule. So votes were not directly on the 'No Fly, No Buy” bill, but rather whether the House would consider the bill.

On all 12 occasions, which have been listed on Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi's website and were individually verified by the Fact Checker, Blum and the majority voted against considering the bill - meaning it failed to reach full discussion on the floor.

The next part of this claim is whether 'thousands of terror suspects,” whom would fall under the bill's scope, have legally purchased firearms and explosives.

According to a 2010 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, membership in a terrorist organization does not prohibit a person from possessing a firearm or explosive.

The report found that from 2004 to 2010, individuals on the FBI terrorist watchlist were involved in firearms or explosives background checks 1,228 times.

Of those, 1,119 - or about 91 percent - of the transactions were allowed to proceed because no prohibiting information was found.

A November 2015 Washington Post article - which took in an additional four years of GAO data - found that individuals on the terrorist watchlist attempted to purchase guns 'at least 2,233 times.” Sales were approved in 2,043 - or 91 percent - of the cases, the Post reported.

Conclusion

The 'No Fly, No Buy” bill has come up on the House floor at least a dozen times since early 2015, but the majority vote has never allowed it to reach a full discussion and vote. Blum has been in that majority.

As for Vernon's use of 'thousands” when referring to terror suspects buying guns, she doesn't provide a time frame for that statement. But the most recent data puts the number of successful transactions involving terrorist suspects over the last decade at a little more than 2,000. It should be noted that these numbers are from a decade's time, and not just since Blum was elected to Congress in 2014.

We give Vernon's claim an A

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Criteria

The Fact Checker team checks statements made by an Iowa political candidate/office holder or a national candidate/office holder about Iowa, or in advertisements that appear in our market. Claims must be independently verifiable. We give statements grades from A to F based on accuracy and context.

If you spot a claim you think needs checking, email us at factchecker@thegazette.com.

This Fact Checker was researched and written by Mitchell Schmidt.