[JURIST] FBI Director Robert Mueller [official profile] suggested to the House Appropriations Committee in testimony [prepared text] Tuesday that terror suspects be legally prohibited from buying guns. Under current federal regulatory practice, highlighted yesterday in a new Government Accountability Office report [PDF], persons suspected of links to terror groups are not included among the categories of persons banned from buying firearms, such as convicted felons, fugitives, convicted drug users, and illegal aliens. Instead, they are simply made subject to a more intensive background check. The GAO study found that 47 people on a terrorism watch list had in fact been approved for weapons purchases in the past year. The head of the National Rife Association [advocacy website] says it is opposed to a comprehensive ban, insisting that the current practice operates satisfactorily. USA Today has more.