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Several members of Congress introduced legislation last week to address a longstanding issue in the Department of Veterans Affairs that prevents certain veterans from purchasing firearms.
Current law mandates that a veteran who requests help managing his Department of Veterans Affairs benefits because of a disability is “immediately reported” to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, meaning that he cannot legally “purchase and own a firearm.”
Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs Chairman Jerry Moran, a Republican from Kansas, and House Committee on Veterans Affairs Chairman Mike Bost, a Republican from Illinois, filed a bill to ensure no bureaucrat can “strip a veteran with a fiduciary of their right to bear arms without a judge or court ruling first that the veteran is a danger to themselves or their community.”
“It should go without saying that veterans should not be treated like second-class citizens simply because they need help managing their books, but under current law they are,” Bost said.
The appropriations bill for the Department of Veterans Affairs in fiscal year 2024 ended the practice of denying Second Amendment liberties to veterans “on a temporary basis,” but the provision is scheduled to expire next month “without a permanent legislative fix in place.”
“House and Senate Republicans will fulfill the American people’s mandate to get this bill to President Trump’s desk to protect veterans’ due process and constitutional rights,” Bost added.
The legislation is also backed by more than a dozen other members of the Senate and more than forty other members of the House, as well as several Second Amendment and veterans organizations, including Gun Owners of America and the National Association for Gun Rights.
“Veterans should never be forced to choose between receiving assistance from VA to manage their benefits and their fundamental Second Amendment,” Moran additionally commented.
