On Wednesday, during the House Democrats’ sit-in on the House floor to try and force a vote on gun control measures, Representative and Iraq War veteran Seth Moulton (D-MA) gave a speech in support of gun control proposals such as “no-fly, no buy” legislation, during which he argued that the right to travel is “so basic we didn’t have to include it in the Bill of Rights.”
Moulton said, “If you’re on a no-fly list, if you’re not allowed to fly, you ought not to be able to buy a gun. And if there are problems with the no-fly list, then let’s fix it. But, tell me this, if there are so many problems with the no-fly list, why do we have the no-fly list? Why are these people not allowed to fly? I’m sure that has nothing to do with the fact that everybody in this body flies home every weekend. Is the freedom to travel not afforded to Americans, is that not a right that we care about? Do we live in a government that can go tell you, you’re not going to get on that plane, just arbitrarily? No. That’s a basic freedom. It’s so basic we didn’t have to include it in the Bill of Rights. If there’s a problem with the no-fly list, then let’s fix it.”
(h/t Winston Coolidge)
Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett