VA takes the lead in adding to NICS gun ban list

[One Bad Pig]

link

Source: Grassley letter

The National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) is effectively a national gun ban list and placement on the list precludes the ownership and possession of firearms. According to the Congressional Research Service, as of June 1, 2012, 99.3% of all names reported to the NICS list’s “mental defective” category were provided by the Veterans Administration (VA) even though reporting requirements apply to all federal agencies. . .

[O]nce the VA determines that a veteran requires a fiduciary to administer benefit payments, the VA reports that veteran to the gun ban list, consequently denying his or her right to possess and own firearms. In the past, the VA has attempted to justify its actions by relying on a single federal regulation, 38 C.F.R. § 3.353, which by its plain language grants limited authority to determine incompetence, but only in the context of financial matters: “Ratings agencies have sole authority to make official determinations of competency and incompetency for purposes of: insurance and...disbursement of benefits.” Thus, the regulation’s core purpose applies to matters of competency for financial purposes in order to appoint a fiduciary. This financial/fiduciary standard has been employed since the regulation’s initial promulgation in the 1970s and it has nothing to do with regulating firearms.

© Copyright Original Source

[seer]

link

Source: Grassley letter

The National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) is effectively a national gun ban list and placement on the list precludes the ownership and possession of firearms. According to the Congressional Research Service, as of June 1, 2012, 99.3% of all names reported to the NICS list’s “mental defective” category were provided by the Veterans Administration (VA) even though reporting requirements apply to all federal agencies. . .

[O]nce the VA determines that a veteran requires a fiduciary to administer benefit payments, the VA reports that veteran to the gun ban list, consequently denying his or her right to possess and own firearms. In the past, the VA has attempted to justify its actions by relying on a single federal regulation, 38 C.F.R. § 3.353, which by its plain language grants limited authority to determine incompetence, but only in the context of financial matters: “Ratings agencies have sole authority to make official determinations of competency and incompetency for purposes of: insurance and...disbursement of benefits.” Thus, the regulation’s core purpose applies to matters of competency for financial purposes in order to appoint a fiduciary. This financial/fiduciary standard has been employed since the regulation’s initial promulgation in the 1970s and it has nothing to do with regulating firearms.

© Copyright Original Source

Yeah, and now Vets have even less reason to seek mental health services from the VA. Idiots...

[One Bad Pig]

Yeah, and now Vets have even less reason to seek mental health services from the VA. Idiots...

Except they're using financial issues, not mental issues, to determine who goes on the list.