US authorities in some states want to introduce the registries to warn local residents the ex-prisoners had moved into their areas. Dozens of inmates convicted of terror-related offences are set to be released from jail over the next five years. Florida House of Representatives’ Republican Mike Hill is now introducing legislation to launch the new terrorist registry in his state.
Mr Hill said: “After the Pulse nightclub and the Fort Lauderdale airport shooting, we know we can be susceptible to terrorist attacks.
“A proposal like this may draw a little opposition, but this should be something that unites us.”
The Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida saw a man linked to Islamic State murder 49 people in 2016.
In 2017, a gunman shot dead five people at Ford Lauderdale, although the perpetrator, Esteban Santiago-Ruiz, was not charged with any terror-related offences.
And in August, 2017 a far-right extremist ploughed a speeding car into a group of of protesters marching against a far-right demonstration in Charlottesville Virgina, killing a woman.
In October 2017, eight people were killed and almost a dozen injured when a 29-year-old man who allegedly supported ISIS mowed down pedestrians in a truck near the World Trade Center in New York.
Another high-profile offender convicted of terror-related offences includes John Walker Lindh, dubbed the ‘American Taliban’, after being captured while fighting in Afghanistan for the Islamist group.
He was jailed for 20 years after being returned to the USA in 2002.
Lawmakers in Louisiana and Missouri are also proposing bills in 2019 to establish terrorist registries modelled on sex-offender lists, according to Christopher Holton, vice president for outreach at the Center for Security Policy, a national-security think tank.
In 2016, the New York state Senate passed a terrorist registry but it did not pass the state Assembly.
Mr Holton said: “There is precedent. We are not breaking new ground.”
Under the plans, offenders convicted of terrorism-related crimes who fail to register with local law enforcement after release would be committing a felony.
Missouri state Rep. Mike Moon, a Republican, told Fox News: “It’s just as important – maybe more important with regard to a national impact – as a sex-offender registry.
“Americans were joining the fight abroad or attempting to provide aid and comfort to terrorist organisations.
“They were apprehended, tried and incarcerated. When they are released, at least some will have the mentality to destroy America.
“Every sheriff should know if they are in the area.”