Liberal Disability Rights Activist: GOP, NRA Correct to Repeal Social Security Gun Ban

A liberal disability rights activist who “worked closely with the Clinton campaign” and opposes President Trump says House Republicans and the NRA are correct in pushing for a complete repeal of Barack Obama’s Social Security gun ban.

The activist, Ari Ne’eman, explained that he “[tends] to be on the side of those condemning actions by the congressional GOP,” but not this time.

Writing in Vox, Ne’eman addressed efforts to repeal the Social Security gun ban, saying:

I and my disability rights colleagues found myself in an unusual position: siding with the Republicans and, yes, the National Rifle Association. Because while congressional Democrats have been admirable allies to the disability community on the vast majority of issues, when it comes to gun violence, both parties use people with mental illness as props — in ways that don’t help public safety, and that put vulnerable people at risk. In this case, it was the Democrats that got the issue wrong.

He pointed out:

The [ban] mandated that the [Social Security Administration] send to NICS the names of all beneficiaries receiving disability payments who possess a mental impairment — and use a payee. People affected by the rule could have a range of mental disabilities — from dementia to autism to agoraphobia.” Because of the breadth of impairments covered, Ne’eman noted that “a coalition of 11 major disability rights groups” spoke up in 2013–when the ban began to be discussed–“expressing concern that…[the Social Security gun ban] might set ‘a dangerous precedent going well beyond the issue of gun violence.’

Ne’eman suggests Democrats were once the ones who stood in the gap for “the disability community,” but now the role has shifted–at least where the Social Security gun ban is concerned–and the NRA is standing right beside the GOP.

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.