The entrance to the Edward P. Boland Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Leeds. (Hoang ‘Leon’ Nguyen / The Republican/TNS) U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs officials testified during a Wednesday House hearing that the department would not comply with proposed legislation barring it from sending certain information about U.S. military veterans to the federal government’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
For years, the VA’s policy has been to notify the NICS system if a veteran or beneficiary relies on a fiduciary to manage their benefits and financial affairs. The VA reasons that reliance on a fiduciary indicates a beneficiary is mentally incompetent. Federal law states firearms dealers receive a “deny message” if a NICS check for a potential buyer determines the buyer has been adjudicated as a mental defective.
Congressional Republicans have introduced several bills to block the VA from reporting to NICS when a veteran relies on the assistance of a fiduciary, out of concern those veterans could be barred access to firearms as a result.
In May, the Republican-led House Veterans Affairs Committee advanced a bill titled the “Veterans Second Amendment Protection Act,” to reverse this VA policy on NICS reporting. The bill states the VA may only report a veteran or VA beneficiary to NICS after a judicial authority determines that person is a danger to themselves or others.
But at a July 10 House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing, VA Deputy Undersecretary Glenn Powers testified that the department opposes the Veterans Second Amendment Protection Act. Powers insisted the VA already provides a sufficient method for beneficiaries who have been reported to NICS to “petition for relief.” “VA did not err in reporting, and if passed into law VA could not comply,” Powers said.
Powers also signaled the VA’s opposition to a forthcoming bill being prepared by Rep. Eli Crane (R-AZ), to be titled the “Safeguarding Veteran Second Amendment Rights Act.” The bill would bar the VA from joining in support of what are known as extreme risk protective orders or “Red Flag” laws, to seize a person’s firearms prior to a criminal conviction, if they are deemed to […]
VA Officials Tell Lawmakers They Won’t Comply With Proposed Laws to Preserve Veterans Gun Rights
