Free Republic

Chuck Schumer proposes that when prospective military recruits admit drug use in interviews — as Tucson shooter Jared Lee Loughner did — they should be reported to the FBI and entered into the database of people who are forbidden to buy guns. As Schumer points out, it is already illegal to sell a gun to a drug user or addict; this policy, therefore, would make existing law more effective. However, there are several reasons to be concerned. The first is that Americans have a Second Amendment right to own handguns, and this right cannot be denied without due process. Schumer’s...

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ Sen. Charles Schumer has a big lead over state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer for the 2006 Democratic nomination for governor while Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton could face a tough battle for re-election that year, a statewide poll reported Wednesday. Despite the encouraging numbers, a spokesman for Schumer said running for governor is ``not on his radar screen.'' The poll, from Marist College's Institute for Public Opinion, found former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani leading Clinton, 50 percent to 46 percent, in a hypothetical Senate matchup. The former first lady and Gov. George Pataki were tied...