New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg appealed to US lawmakers Wednesday to ban the sale of weapons to people on an FBI terror watch list, saying the failed Times Square car bomb underscored a "terror gap."
"At a time when the threat of terrorism is still very real, as we in New York City know all too well, I think it is imperative that Congress close this terror gap in our gun laws, and close it quickly," he said.
Bloomberg made the appeal before a Senate committee considering a bill introduced in June 2009 that would ban sales of weapons to people on the FBI watch list.
Wednesday's hearing at the Senate had been planned before Saturday's attempted car bombing in New York, which was also the scene of the September 11, 2001 attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center.
A Pakistani-American, Faisal Shahzad, 30, tracked down within hours of parking a bomb-laden car on Broadway has been charged in the plot.
Senator Joe Lieberman told the committee examining the bill: "Times Square should remind us of a reality that we tend to forget: Islamists attack."
"We are simply not doing all we can to stop terrorists from buying firearms," he warned.
Others like Republican Senator Lindsey Graham expressed reservations, warning that the bill infringed on the constitutional right of Americans to bear arms.
Bloomberg said he supported the bill, quoting figures from a US government report that said that from February 2004 to February 2010, 1,228 people listed on an FBI terror watchlist had tried to buy weapons. About 90 percent, some 1,119, had succeeded.
He also called for more funds to help battle terror attacks on his city.
"Since 1990, there have been more than 20 terrorist plots -- or actual attacks -- against our city," he told lawmakers.
"That's why it's so critical for Congress to fully fund Homeland Security programs like 'Securing the Cities' initiative -- and to take other steps that will help us fight terrorists and make it harder for them to attack us."
He was referring to a program set up to help the Homeland Security department protect major US cities from attack.
Meanwhile, New York police commissioner Raymond Kelly told journalists that luck and good police work combined to help them track down Shahzad so quickly.
"We were lucky and it was good police work, I think it was a combination of both," said Kelly, who also testified to the committee.
"No investigation ever goes perfectly, you go in different directions, you can spend a lot of efforts in one area and it doesn't pay off," Bloomberg told the committee.
"But the fact that this investigation from start to finish took 53 hours, I think it is remarkable."
Meanwhile, three Democratic senators -- Benjamin Cardin, Charles Schumer and Mark Udall -- called on the administration to change airport security rules to require identity checks of passengers, like Shahzad, who pay for their tickets with cash.
"This incident highlights a loophole in our no-fly policy that allows terrorists to practically come and go as they please if they pay in cash," Schumer, who is from New York, said in a statement.
"Our security efforts are only as strong as the weakest link in the chain. This common-sense step will make sure no terrorist ever again comes so close to a midnight getaway," he said.
Copyright 2010  AFP American Edition
