A Department of Veterans Affairs policy that Second Amendment advocates call a “veteran gun ban” likely won’t get funded in the new spending bill — to the chagrin of the Biden administration, which supports the broader omnibus but criticized the provision and vowed to find other ways to keep guns away from “those who shouldn’t have them.”
The VA currently sends the names of veterans deemed unable to manage their VA financial benefits to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, also known as NICS.
“The VA is acting totally unconstitutional in this veteran de-armament process. This is illegal, unconstitutional and should have never been done,” Aidan Johnston, director of federal affairs for Gun Owners of America (GOA), told Fox News Digital.
The GOA lobbied Congress to defund the policy in the near term, and asked supporters to contact their members of Congress to “repeal the veteran gun ban,” which it said has already “disarmed 250,000 Americans.”
“These are not adjudicated cases,” Johnston added. “These are not insane veterans. These are people who have had trouble with their health or might need someone to manage their finances.”
Although the VA has defended the program partly as having the capacity to prevent veteran suicide, Johnston said it’s counterproductive because veterans will resist seeking counseling for mental health if they face any sanction.
“This contributes to veteran suicide as they will be reluctant to seek care at the VA,” Johnston said. “The VA is stigmatizing mental health.”
He warned if a federal agency can do this to veterans, a federal agency could disarm any other Americans who talked to a therapist or is designated unable to manage his or her finances.
— Fred Lucas in Congress Poised to Roll back ‘Veteran Gun Ban,’ With Reluctant Biden Backing
2 Responses
Like I need another reason to not trust the VA.
Sh*t like this is why I have never filed for a single benefit, and plan to stay as far away from the VA as possible.
Like most things…the VA is being weaponized against the very people it’s supposed to help.