VA says they won’t comply with legacy governor’s gun laws
My cousin Scott sends us a link to an Associated Press article which reports that the Department of Veterans’ Affairs won’t be complying with the portion of legacy governor Cuomo’s new gun laws which would require healthcare providers to turn over the names of their patients who they think might be a danger to themselves or others;
Several veterans and their advocates say it would deter many from seeking counseling and medications to deal with post-traumatic stress disorder or other psychological issues. Veterans fear their rights would be taken away.
Under the law pushed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the information would be used to determine whether someone should give up a gun license or weapon.
VA spokesman Mark Ballesteros says federal laws protecting veterans’ treatment records take precedence.
Well, good for them, if they stick to their guns, so to speak. Although it does create a conundrum since most of the conservatives are saying that we need people control more than gun control. But, on the other hand, despite what the majority of Leftists believe, it’s not veterans who are the problem in this country, so the VA not cooperating with New York State won’t impact the overarching gun violence issue.
Category: Gun Grabbing Fascists, Veterans' Affairs Department
VA has never reported any patient who is seeking care on a voluntary basis…I am glad they spoke up about this, and made a public statement specific to New York and their idiocy.
In another article Cuomo says that this is okay because the mental health provider can choose what to do.
Which isn’t what the law says at all. I hate that guy.
VA … good move.
NY … not so much!
Hey he’s gotta look tough and caring at the same time; its hard life for a rich guy.
So you’re saying Rambo isn’t a documentary? My world view……
**Just saw this on MSM: Senate Judiciary Committee has approved federal background checks on gun purchases, to include private transactions.
This is the same VA that has a blanket policy reporting veterans for whom they appoint a financial conservator “mentally deficient” to NICS – irrespective of the fact that such individuals not been declared mentally incompetent by any court – unless the veteran can convince them not to do so.
That precedent doesn’t exactly make me confident the VA will stick to their current position regarding NY state law.
PintoNag – that is a draft legislation from the Dems on the committee, does not even have full committee endorsement much
less the Senate’s. Probably as shocking and unexpected as Feinstein introducing an “assault weapons” ban.
OFF TOPIC BUT APPROPRIATE FOR TAH
By way of introduction to the link below, some years ago I came upon a few family letters that dated to the first quarter of the last century. One of them, sent to my grandmother in 1919 lamented the fact that “poor Auntie” has not been the same since her two boys were killed in the war (i.e., World War I). I started my hunt and quickly learned that many Australian war records are available on line, from photocopied individual jackets to unit histories. I found my distant cousins. One was a school teacher before the war, with a wife and, at the start of the war, an infant. He was a captain. His brother, unmarried and younger, was a sergeant. They were both hit within 24 hours of one another, one dying immediately, the other days later in the aid station. They almost made it. They were killed less than two months before the armistice.
Many of you will appreciate poring over the records available through the link below. They contain some amazing accounts of battle, leading the reader through muck and trenches to glimpse life in the Great War from some of those who fought it.
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/records/awm4/subclass.asp?levelID=1782
update – PintoNag, you’re correct – b*stards actually released it. Never pass the full Senate, much less the House – but will distract us all nicely from things like budget cuts, non-budgets, shoddy defense, etc. Don’t look behind the curtain….
@10 Thanks for double-checking that David. I am shaky at best in my understanding of the status of bills as they work their way through committee. It sounded to me like it had been accepted, which is why I mentioned it here.
Has anyone heard if they have a plan of action for enforcing background checks for private transactions? The two guns I have that I purchased from private individuals I met them in some parking lot somewhere and did the deal out of the trunk of a car. We wrote up a bill of sale and all that jazz. I’ve always wondered how they were going to stop people from doing that without a background check first.
@12
They cannot.
The Empire State. Indeed.
PN: This is a great link to use when you want to know the status of a bill in Congress: http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas.php
It is well worth spending a few minutes looking around that site because there is all sorts of interesting stuff there. Occasionally it takes a while to get a very large bill posted, especially when lots of things are being introduced, but it is the most consistent place to find current info.
If you put in S 150 (DiFi’s bill) in the search block in the upper middle of the page, it takes you to another page where you can select whatever you want to know abiout the bill.
the VA won’t comply probably because they can’t find the records anyway
ohio: don’t be so sure about that. In a jurisdiction that requires permits for either possession or concealed carry (I understand DC still does for handguns), the requirement to show proof of such a check could easily become part of the permit process.
It’s just Government wanting more power and control in our lives, what could go wrong?
/exit sarc mode
@12- there is no mechanism for enforcement. Just as there is no way for the mental health portion of the law to be satisfied, as it requires the violation of privacy laws to work. Will not happen.
Private sales, according to this law, are supposed to involve an ffl, who can charge no more than $10 for the transaction. You are supposed to just mosey on into a shop with the guy you are selling to, and tell the clerk that you are selling your gun. In their shop. Which they will not only not make any money for, but it will waste about an hour of the clerk’s time, for which the shop will have to eat the man-hour cost for only $10 back. Instead of the hundreds or thousands they would get from a sale of their own firearm.
Want to take a guess as to how many shops would willingly provide that service?
Off the topic of the VA but still concerning NY state – from the Schuyler County Sheriff’s FB page Monday:
Both the resolution opposing the NY SAFE ACT, and the resolution opposing proposed legislation by NY State to require liability insurance by gun owners unanimously passed the Schuyler County Legislature tonight. Thanks to everyone for their support. – Sheriff Bill Yessman