No, it can’t, it’s unconstitutional. But also, as Comey has said, it can impede terrorist investigations, because it could flag for the people being watched that they are being watched.
Via Newsmax:
Attorney General Loretta Lynch has overruled FBI Director James Comey on a key issue involving guns and terrorist watch lists — a move that two unlikely allies, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the National Rifle Association, oppose.
Lynch says the Obama administration supports banning the sale of firearms to people on terrorist watch lists — a declaration that flies in the face of Comey’s belief that denying those sales could hinder investigations of potential terrorists.
The Washington Times reports that in a statement issued Thursday, the Justice Department said it wants Congress to pass the so-called “no-fly, no-buy” plan Democratic lawmakers are pushing.