Congress blocks rule barring mentally impaired from guns

WASHINGTON — Congress on Wednesday sent President Donald Trump legislation blocking an Obama-era rule designed to keep guns out of the hands of certain mentally disabled people.

The Senate voted 57-43 to back the resolution, one of several early steps by the GOP-led Congress to undo regulations implemented by former President Barack Obama. The House passed the measure earlier this year. Trump is expected to sign the legislation.

The Obama rule would have prevented an estimated 75,000 people with mental disorders from being able to purchase a firearm. It was crafted as part of Obama’s efforts to strengthen the federal background check system in the wake of the 2012 massacre of 20 young students and six staffers at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

Adam Lanza, 20, who had a variety of impairments, including Asperger’s syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder, killed his mother at home, then went to school where he killed the students, adults and himself.

The Obama administration rule required the Social Security Administration to send in the names of beneficiaries with mental impairments who also have a third party manage their benefits. But lawmakers, with the backing of the National Rifle Association and advocacy groups for the disabled, opposed the regulation.

Under an expedited process established through the Congressional Review Act, a regulation is made invalid when a simple majority of both chambers passes a joint resolution of disapproval and the president signs it.

The NAACP, the United States Conference of Mayors and the National League of Cities supported the Social Security Administration’s efforts.