Buckeye Reporter

A partisan coalition of anti-gun congressional Democrats is seeking to undermine a law passed to protect the Second Amendment rights of veterans, despite the provision having been openly negotiated, passed with bipartisan support, and signed into law by Joe Biden.

In a March 13 letter to the Secretary of the VA, Denis McDonough, Rep. Mike Thompson, chairman of the House Gun Violence Prevention Task Force, along with 138 Democrat members of Congress, urged the VA to ignore or undermine the rider that prohibits reporting veterans to the federal background check database as prohibited “mental defectives” without a judicial finding of dangerousness.

The letter contains claims that do not hold up to scrutiny, such as suggesting that veterans who are assigned a fiduciary by the VA are automatically a danger to themselves or others when it comes to accessing firearms. This assertion was debunked by a former VA official who explained that the determination of financial acumen does not necessarily correlate with suicidal or aggressive tendencies.

Furthermore, the letter implies that veterans with fiduciaries could face legal jeopardy under federal regulations regarding firearm purchases. However, the interpretation of the underlying statute by the VA may not hold up in a criminal case, as it exceeds the scope of the law's definition of “mental defective.”

The letter also suggests that the VA could continue reporting beneficiaries to the background check system under the pretext of using "prior year funds," a move that would be unconstitutional and illegal without proper Congressional appropriation.

In response to these efforts, the National Rifle Association expressed concern over the actions of anti-gun Democrats and emphasized the importance of vigilance to ensure that pro-gun victories are upheld. The NRA will be closely monitoring the implementation of the VA's new funding rider to protect veterans' Second Amendment rights.