You’d think people who cover politics for a living would have a better understanding of federal law and the Bill of Rights.
But you’d be so, so wrong.
The Republican-controlled House voted Thursday to prevent an onerous regulation that would’ve allowed the Social Security Administration to revoke a person’s Second Amendment rights based on whether he receives Disability for a mental impairment that keeps him from working, or if he “[uses] a representative payee to help manage their benefits.”
My colleague David Freddoso explained the now-defunct regulation in greater detail here, in case you’re interested.
What’s particularly notable about Congress voting to prevent the last minute Obama-era regulation is that the press predictably botched the story with deeply unfair and misleading headlines.
From MSNBC: “House Republicans vote to expand gun access for mentally impaired.”
From USA Today: “House votes to strike rule banning guns for some deemed mentally impaired.”
From NPR: “House votes to overturn Obama rule restricting gun sales to the mentally ill.”
From the Hill: “House strikes down Obama-era regulation that blocked gun sales to the mentally ill.”
From the Associated Press: “House votes to roll back Obama rule on background checks for gun ownership.”
It wasn’t just headlines. Several political reporters and media commentators got in on the action yesterday, with many of them adding their own unhelpful commentary to the already extraordinarily misleading headlines.
As a fun exercise, compare the above remarks to statements issued yesterday by infamously pro-gun control lawmakers, including Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Calif., and Reps. Mike Thompson, D-Calif., and Elizabeth Esty, D-Conn.
For what it’s worth, Republican lawmakers weren’t the only ones who thought the regulation was trash.
They were encouraged and supported in their opposition to the regulation by a number of disability and civil liberty advocacy groups, including the American Association of People with Disabilities, the American Association of People with Disabilities, the Arc of the United States, the Association of Mature American Citizens, the Autistic Self-Advocacy Network, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the National Council on Disability, the National Disability Rights Network and the American Civil Liberties Union.
Each group called on Congress to prevent the regulation from going into effect. Each argued that it was a massive overreach that posed a threat to individual liberties.
