New bill aims to prevent VA bureaucrats from manipulating system to seize veterans’ firearms.
A new bill from Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas is fighting to protect veterans’ Second Amendment rights from interference by the Biden administration bureaucrats at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Introduced by Reps. Roy, Eli Crane of Arizona, Lance Gooden of Texas, Andrew Clyde of Georgia, Andy Harris of Maryland, and Mary Miller of Illinois, this legislation specifically prevents the VA from sharing veterans’ names with the Department of Justice to be added to the federal government’s no-gun list.
Currently, the VA requires veterans who want to appoint a fiduciary to manage their benefits to risk losing their Second Amendment rights. The fiduciary program, as stated by the VA, aims to protect veterans and beneficiaries who are unable to manage their VA benefits. However, the VA does not assess whether a veteran is a danger to themselves or others during the fiduciary evaluation process. Despite this, any veteran deemed “unable to manage” their benefits by the VA is automatically prohibited from purchasing or owning firearms or ammunition.
Their names are then shared with the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), which federal firearm dealers use to determine eligibility for gun purchases. Veterans with fiduciaries are placed in an “adjudicated mental defective” category, effectively stripping them of their Second Amendment rights indefinitely.
FBI data from 2023 reveals that nearly 98 percent of the names in the NICS “mental defective” category were provided by the VA.
The VA warns that knowingly violating this law may result in fines and/or imprisonment.
A memo released by House Veteran Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost highlights that the decision to name a fiduciary and disarm veterans is often made by VA general schedule employees, rather than a court or similar judicial authority. While there is an appeals process for veterans seeking relief from firearms prohibitions, the VA ultimately determines whether or not that relief is granted.
The committee estimates that hundreds of thousands of veterans and their family members have been denied their constitutional right to bear arms based on the judgment of low-level bureaucrats.
“America’s heroes should never have to fear losing their God-given right to self-defense simply for seeking the care they have earned in the process of protecting our republic,” said Roy. ”Yet, instead of focusing on securing the border or defeating foreign enemies like China, Democrats are set to take aim at our veterans’ Second Amendment rights. I am proud to take a stand for our veterans with this legislation and to fight to prevent the Biden administration from infringing on their fundamental human rights to bear arms in self-defense.”
Jordan Boyd is a staff writer at The Federalist and co-producer of The Federalist Radio Hour. Her work has also been featured in The Daily Wire, Fox News, and RealClearPolitics. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on Twitter @jordanboydtx.
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