On the "terrorist watch list" and gun background checks

The United Stated Department of Disinformation, otherwise known as NPR (link) has posted a hand-wringing report condemning the NRA for lobbying to refuse to allow the fact that a person is on an FBI or DHS terrorist "watch list" from resulting in a failed firearms purchase background check.

Let us, as NPR does, set aside the inconvenient fact that the guns used by the alleged marathon bombers were not legally obtained; even if being on the watch list was indicated by a background check, no such check is performed when an illegal firearms transfer occurs.

The truth is, the constitutionality of using these lists in any way to limit a person's rights is entirely suspect. Since there is no clear defined legal process by which one gets on or off the "watch list", legally there shouldn't be any restrictions on the constitutional freedoms of those on it. You or I could be on the watch list simply because someone in Washington picked our names out of the phone book, literally. It's that arbitrary. For those with relatives in the Middle East, it's even scarier. Consider: my children have uncles and cousins who are fighting (and dying, for what it's worth) for the Syrian resistance. If the state department decides to label those rebels as "Al-Qaeda backed groups," any one of my children could find themselves on a watch list for the mere act of posting something on Facebook or Twitter.

(The same is true for the "no-fly" list, which not only is contrary to basic freedom of movement, but also is unlawful under existing Supreme court precedent.)