PA Bill Number: HR541
Title: Recognizing the month of October 2024 as "Domestic Violence Awareness Month" in Pennsylvania.
Description: A Resolution recognizing the month of October 2024 as "Domestic Violence Awareness Month" in Pennsylvania.
Last Action:
Last Action Date: Sep 27, 2024
Grassley: Vets Fought to Protect Constitutional Rights, Don't Take Away Those Rights :: 05/19/2016
Senator Chuck Grassley, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today expressed disgust that Senate Democrats were objecting to a vote on his amendment to ensure that veterans don’t lose their Second Amendment rights because of a constitutionally questionable process used by the Department of Veterans Affairs for reporting names to the federal National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).
The NICS is effectively a national gun ban list and all persons reported to it are prohibited from owning or possessing firearms. Grassley tried to bring up his amendment during the current Senate debate on the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations bill, but Senate Democrats refused to allow it to be considered.
As of December 2015, nearly 99 percent of names listed on the “mental defective” category within the federal gun background check system were from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Grassley’s amendment requires that before the VA reports names to the Department of Justice for eventual placement on the gun ban list, the VA must first find, by judicial order, that a veteran is a danger to himself, herself, or others – a standard which is not currently employed by the VA.
The amendment is supported by the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
“Taking away the very constitutional rights without due process that veterans fought to uphold is wrong and cannot stand. The VA regulatory scheme fails to adequately protect the liberty interests of veterans. It’s a double hit for those who fought to protect the United States when my colleagues on the other side of the aisle object to even voting on this fundamental right,” Grassley said. “The VA’s actions are an example of the federal government, once again, going too far.”
Grassley said that he has heard from Iowa veterans that some veterans are reluctant to seek care from the VA for fear of losing their Second Amendment rights.
“It’s outrageous that because of the VA policy, veterans are afraid to seek the care they have earned in service to their country because the VA might deprive them of a constitutionally protected right without due process,” Grassley said.
All federal agencies are required to report names of individuals to the federal background check system “mental defective” category. According to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, a key legal standard by which a name is supposed to be reported to the “mental defective” category is whether the individuals are a danger to themselves or others. However, the VA process never reaches that finding. Instead the VA reports individuals to the gun ban list if an individual merely needs financial assistance managing VA benefits. Although the ATF and VA regulations share some common language, unlike the ATF’s regulatory scheme, the VA’s scheme was not designed to regulate firearms. Despite that clear purpose, the VA is using its regulations to regulate firearms, resulting in veterans and their loved ones being barred from exercising their fundamental, constitutionally-guaranteed Second Amendment rights.
Grassley began conducting oversight of the VA’s process more than a year ago. On April 15, 2015, he sent a letter to then-Attorney General Eric Holder outlining concerns that a number of failures, including the inconsistent application of standards and weak due process protections, were leading to a disproportionate number of names submitted to the gun ban list by the VA. He has also written a similar letter to the VA and the Social Security Administration regarding the process of submitting names to the gun database.
