A coalition of gun prohibition lobbying groups including Brady United Against Gun Violence, Everytown for Gun Safety, Giffords and March for Our Lives is urging Congress to allow the Department of Veterans Affairs to resume sending reports of mental incompetency to the National Instant Background Check system to limit veteran access to firearms, The Hill is reporting.
According to the report, the groups sent a letter to leaders in Congress in which they assert, “Limiting access to guns for veterans and other VA beneficiaries who may be in crisis by reporting them to the background check system is a critical step to help keep them safe. This provision is incredibly harmful: Section 413 is an enormous threat to the safety and well-being of veterans and their beneficiaries who are at a heightened risk of harm to themselves or others; it undermines the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA’s) ability to prevent these individuals from accessing firearms; and it weakens the background check system, one of the most important tools we have to prevent gun violence.”
At issue is Section 413 of the $1.2 trillion budget bill passed last month, introduced by Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) as a separate bill. In a news release from his office in March, Kennedy declared, “Unelected bureaucrats shouldn’t be able to strip veterans of their Second Amendment rights unilaterally. The Senate did the right thing for veterans and all freedom-loving Americans by passing my amendment today,”
Kennedy’s amendment prohibits the Secretary of Veterans Affairs from sending a veteran’s personal information to NICS unless a judge rules that the veteran is a danger to himself or others, the release explained.
“Because unelected bureaucrats at the VA ultimately decide—without a court ruling—whether veterans receive help from a fiduciary and therefore end up in NICS, current law denies veterans due process and infringes on veterans’ right to bear arms,” the release said.
The Hill described the gun control groups as “gun reform groups.” This is what many in the firearms community call “camo-speak,” terms designed to camouflage the true intent at issue.
According to The Hill, VA Press Secretary Terrence Hays “confirmed the department has ceased reporting to NICS.”
