VA Ceases Decades of Second Amendment Rights Violations
VA undoes decades-old wrong and protects Veterans’ Second Amendment rights
WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs today announced a major new step to protect Veterans’ Second Amendment rights. Effective immediately, VA will not report Veterans to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System as “prohibited persons” only because they need help from a fiduciary in managing their VA benefits.
This corrects a three-decade-old wrong that deprived many thousands of Veterans in VA’s Fiduciary Program of their constitutional right to own a firearm without a legal basis.
After a thorough review, VA recognized that many Veterans had been deprived of their Second Amendment rights without hearings or adequate determinations that they posed a sufficient risk of danger to themselves or others. In consultation with the Department of Justice, VA has determined this practice violates both the Gun Control Act and Veterans’ Second Amendment rights. According to federal law, a decision by a judicial or quasi-judicial body is needed before someone can be reported to NICS.
A determination by the VA that a fiduciary is needed to help manage a Veteran’s VA benefits falls far short of this legal standard.
In addition to immediately stopping the reporting of VA Fiduciary Program participants to NICS, the department is working with the FBI to remove all past VA reporting from NICS, so no Veterans are unfairly deprived of their Second Amendment rights based solely on participation in VA’s Fiduciary Program.
“Many Americans struggle with managing their finances, and Veterans’ Second Amendment rights shouldn’t be stripped just because they need help in this area. But for too long, Veterans who needed the services of a VA fiduciary were deprived of their right to bear arms,” said VA Secretary Doug Collins. “Under the leadership of President Trump, we’re correcting this injustice and ensuring Veterans get the same due-process and constitutional rights as all Americans.”
Since 1998 under the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993, the Department of Veterans Affairs has provided records on beneficiaries for whom a fiduciary has been appointed to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for inclusion in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
Questions arose as to why the VA is the only federal department or agency that has made substantial numbers of NICS referrals to the FBI based on mental incompetency determinations, even though other federal agencies that provide similar disability and income security benefits have not done so. The Social Security Administration comes to mind. This incongruity called into question whether VA benefit claims and disability rating procedures were substantive enough on their own to justify the taking of a constitutionally enumerated right like the right to keep and bear arms under the Second Amendment.
Hat tip to AW1 Rod for the head’s up.
Category: Guest Link, Gun Grabbing Fascists, Veterans' Affairs Department
As a full retiree I don’t go anywhere near the VA.
Didn’t trust them before, don’t trust them now. Every person that I met that ever worked there was among the worst of the worst careerist only concerned with promoting themselves while talking sideways out of their mouths about veterans.
The one time I did try to do something with them I found them rude, intractable, lazy and dishonest. That wasn’t in this century but I don’t see how anything has changed. Even if it has, it would likely only be a passing thing until the next administration fills it up with boot-licking sycophants from their own party.
If someone out there is working for the VA and doing their best, well I appreciate it but my experiences have been uniformly negative.
Actually heard the VA clinic near is good. I tried to enroll for care via phone and was told they cannot do that here? I would have to drive to the clinic to enroll in person or do it online, which is already difficult with the VA.
Side note/question: for anyone using them (see: survivors), why does the VA want my income from last year to enroll into the medical care I am entitled to? That seemed a tad bit suspicious and made me back out from using them.
They won’t spend “their” money on you if you are sufficiently flush enough to pay for your own care. Some Vets are more equal than others apparently.
Well, that seems highly suspect. It’s the Veterans Affairs not the Some Veterans Affairs.
And my wife thinks I’m paranoid for assuming any letter agency is going to try and screw us over.
I always assume any and all three letter agencies will screw me. Now, whether it’s by design or through incompetence is another matter.
There is a lot of calculus that goes into determining eligibility and what you are eligible for as well as what priority you are. Your income is part of that calculus.
https://www.va.gov/health-care/eligibility/priority-groups/
Again, I don’t deal with the system but I do know that you can be in one priority group one year and then for arbitrary reasons they move you to a different priority group. If they make a mistake they will never admit it.
About time!
Stopping their unlawful actions now against vets is good……but what are they going to do to UNdo the actions that they’ve already taken in the past against vets?
Can they remove/undo the blocks in the NICS?
“Sorry” don’t feed the bulldog.
And as others have already commented, I’ve never been to the VA, and don’t see a need to start now. Just being cautious.
I’ve only used the VA for disability and a home loan. Had no issues with either one (except for that burn-pit legislation. Political eyewash that served no purpose.) with the minor exception of a misaddressed notification of my physical exam for disability. That was fixed extremely quickly.
I’ve heard second hand that the VA has reevaluated disability ratings. For example, sleep apnea is no longer going to be an automatic 50%. Veterans already receiving benefits at the old rates won’t lose anything, new ratings will change. I’ve been hearing this for years, haven’t seen anything concrete though.
Seen letters that say “yup, you got sleep apnea. But it isn’t service related, so no go”.
The “Means test” basically says if you made too much money, you get kicked to the back of the line. Worst part is that they never seem to re-review even when asked, so if you did OK working but now make little in retirement – you STILL fail the means test.
50% od my disability is sleep apnea, diagnosed 2 years before retirement. Is it service connected? I have no clue. The VA said it is. I got that letter from the the VA. “Yes, we gave you two kinds of cancer (testicular and prostate) but it doesn’t slow you down. 0% disability, thanks for coming in. The good news, is you get free future treatment courtesy of the VA”.
Thanks for giving me a benefit I already had. I’ve had excellent care paid for by TRICARE.
The VA is very good at violating the Constitutional rights of Veterans.