Reps vote to roll back gun restrictions

Rules were aimed at keeping guns away from mentally ill

WASHINGTON >> A rule adopted by the Obama administration last year aimed at restricting gun purchases by veterans deemed to be mentally incompetent to manage their benefits took an important step toward being rolled back last week with the help of votes from three area Republican Congressmen.

U.S. Reps. Ryan Costello, R-6, Pat Meehan, R-7, and Brian Fitzpatrick, R-8, all voted for the Veterans Second Amendment Protection Act in a March 16 vote which won approval by a 240 to 175 vote margin.

Critics say the bill would allow at-risk veterans easy access to firearms and increase their risk of suicide, already statistically higher than other citizens.

Supporters say the rule denied veterans a constitutional right without a hearing and was so broad it was restricting firearm purchases by veterans who could not be shown to be a danger to themselves or to others.

“Representative Elizabeth Esty (D-Conn.), a member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee who represents the district where the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting took place, said the bill, introduced in February, was rushed to consideration on the House floor, and argued it would make it easier for veterans in crisis to purchase guns,” according to a report in Newsweek.

She offered an amendment calling for a study on the poten-

tial impact of the change first, but it was rejected by the House Committee on Veterans Affairs.

Phil Roe, the Tennessee Republican who sponsored the bill and is chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, said the rule “deprives veterans of their constitutional rights without due process of law,” adding “veterans who fought to defend the Constitution should also be allowed the rights to protect it,” Newsweek reported.

Last week’s vote on the veterans bill is separate but similar to one taken a month ago which called for rolling back a rule that required the Social Security Administration to disclose to the national gun background check system information about people who had filed for disabilities due to mental illness.

Republicans argued this could have led to an inability to obtain gun permits even if a recipient’s disability had something to do with an issue that would make them a danger to themselves or others if allowed to purchase a firearm, like an eating disorder.

That rule, adopted on Dec. 19, 2016 by the Social Security Administration,

would not have gone into effect until Dec. 19 of this year. Its retraction was also supported by votes from Costello, Meehan and Fitzpatrick and passed by a similar margin — 235 to 180 — on Feb. 2.

Both rules began after the 2007 shooting at Virginia Tech, when President George W. Bush signed a bill requiring all federal agencies — including the VA — to submit to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System the names of individuals who because of mental incompetency are legally prohibited from possessing guns.

“Since then, the VA has submitted more than 174,000 names of veterans suffering from mental problems such as long-term post-traumatic stress disorder, schizophrenia and dementia, according to the Veterans Coalition for Common Sense, a group established by former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), who became a gun-violence prevention activist after being shot,” Newsweek reported.

Of those servicemen and women, 19,000, or 11 percent, suffer from schizophrenia and another 15,000, or 8.6 percent, have severe post-traumatic stress disorder.

But opponents argue that many of the other 174,000 U.S. Rep. Pat Meehan, R-7 were unconstitutionally restricted from purchasing firearms and many lacked the legal resources to have their names removed from the restricted list.

Both the National Rifle Association and American Civil Liberties Union opposed the rule repealed last month on the grounds that it was too broad and someone could be designated from the Social Security Administration database for conditions that would not otherwise stop a gun purchase.

Costello offered a similar rationale for his vote on the veterans measure last week.

“A central tenet of constitutional law is the right to a hearing prior to losing a constitutional right and this legislation aims to ensure this tenet,” Costello wrote to Digital First Media in response to an inquiry.

“As I have stated previously, the U.S. Supreme U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-8 Court has held that reasonable regulations on the possession of firearms do not violate the Second Amendment — and I support solutions that pass constitutional muster to stop firearms from getting into the hands of criminals and those who lack the mental capacity to safely and responsibly possess them,” Costello wrote, adding that he consider’s Pennsylvania’s “Instant Check System” to be an example of how such regulations should be implemented.

Costello’s office provided information explaining that the “Department of Veterans’ Affairs (VA) may appoint a fiduciary agent for a veteran who is deemed unable to manage his or her veterans’ benefits.”

More important to Costello’s position, “if a hearing is held regarding this status, the result is to provide information as to

whether the veteran is capable of managing their benefits — not whether or not the veteran presents a danger to themselves or to others. The VA, however, is providing information to the NICS about veterans who are unable to manage their benefits as being mentally incompetent.”

The bill passed in the house last week has the support of the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

However, prior to the vote, 14 retired admirals and generals from all branches of the military — including General David Petraeus, a former CIA director, Admiral Thad Allen and Generals Michael Hayden and Stanley McChrystal — sent a letter to congressional leaders urging them to oppose the bill, Newsweek reported.

Writing under the “Veterans Coalition for Common Sense” letterhead, the letter noted, in part, “We know that non-deployed veterans are at a 61 percent higher risk of suicide compared to the American civilian population, and deployed veterans are at a 41 percent higher risk. Firearms are the most lethal means when it comes to suicide, resulting in death nine out of ten times. When vulnerable veterans have access to firearms, they can do harm not only to themselves but

also to family members and loved ones.”

According to the Department of Defense’s 2014 Suicide Event Report, which was published last year, an average of 20 veterans commit suicide each day, twothirds of whom do so by using a firearm, Newsweek reported.

Costello has frequently spoken out on veterans issues.

In a 2015 speech on the floor of the House, Costello gave a speech in which he called for more awareness about suicide risk among veterans.

“We also need to raise awareness about the invisible wounds many of them face. I am speaking about post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, depression, which can and often does lead to thoughts of suicide,” Costello said in the Sept. 24, 2015 speech, which called for the passage of the Female Veteran Suicide Prevention Act.

The Republican majority in Congress is rolling the two regulations back — among a host of others from previous administrations — using the Congressional Review Act which is not subject to a Senate filibuster.

The Senate is expected to approve the veterans measure and President Donald Trump is expected to sign it, according to national reports.

U.S. Rep. Ryan Costello, R-6