Gabby Giffords’ gun control group Americans for Responsible Solutions (ARS) is urging opposition to a repeal of the gun ban for military veterans.
On March 16 Breitbart News reported that the House voted to repeal the gun ban for military veterans and ARS is asking gun controllers to convince their Senators not to follow suit.
ARS posted a link that helps gun controllers write a letter to their Senators. The text of the link says, “Write a letter to your Senators saying that you OPPOSE legislation that would prevent the Department of Veterans Affairs from submitting mental health records to the National Instant Criminal Background Checks System,”
This is nearly identical to the tactics gun controllers used in trying to preserve the Social Security gun ban, which was structured almost identically to the gun ban for military veterans. In both bans, beneficiaries with a mental health moniker whose benefits are sent to a third party for financial management can be stripped of their Second Amendment rights without due process. The key is the mental health label, although such a label is so broad it encompasses everything from severe mental illness–bi-polar disease and schizophrenia–to moderate, treatable issues that may only be temporary. These latter mental health conditions could be anxiety or depression.
Under such a framework, an 85-year-old Social Security beneficiary who needed help with finances and was suffering from depression over the recent death of a spouse would be in danger of losing his or her gun rights based on a Social Security Administration judgement. The House recognized this and voted to repeal the Social Security gun ban on February 2 and the Senate voted for repeal on February 15. President Trump signed the repeal on February 28.
The focus is now on repealing the gun ban for military vets; another ban that can put veterans with moderate, treatable mental health issues at risk of losing their Second Amendment rights.
Gabby Giffords’ gun control group is fighting the repeal, and Gabby Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly have launched smaller, satellite gun control groups which are opposing the repeal as well.
Our veterans deserve better, and the NRA-ILA’s Chris Cox explained exactly why the gun ban needs to be repealed: “Receiving assistance to handle personal finances does not mean an individual is unable to safely own a firearm. Our brave men and women in the military should not be stripped of their constitutional rights without due process of law.”
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.