Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) is demanding the Justice Department account for the fact that a “disproportionate” share of those on a “mental defective” gun ban list are veterans and their dependents, often without sufficient medical justification for this designation.
Individuals placed in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System’s (NICS) “mental defective” category are not allowed to possess a firearm. Technically this category signifies someone who is a danger to themselves or others—but, according to Grassley, the Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) standards for placing someone in the category do not reflect this.
The VA has reportedly been listing veterans who are deemed incompetent and in need of financial assistance to this category. According to a Congressional Research Service report cited by Grassley, as of June 1, 2012, over 99 percent of all names reported to the “mental defective” category came from the VA.
“It’s disturbing to think that the men and women who dedicated themselves to defending our freedom and values face undue threats to their fundamental Second Amendment rights from the very agency established to serve them. A veteran or dependent shouldn’t lose their Constitutional rights because they need help with bookkeeping,” Grassley said in a statement.
“The 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,” he said. “Instead VA reports individuals to the gun ban list if an individual merely needs financial assistance managing VA benefits. Although the VA process is not designed to regulate firearm ownership, it results in veterans and their loved ones being barred from exercising their fundamental, Constitutionally-guaranteed Second Amendment rights.”
In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder requesting more information on the Justice Department’s review process for this list, Grassley argues that the VA’s recommendations are beyond their authority and endanger veterans’ Second Amendment rights.
He also says that the standard by which they rate someone “incompetent” is extremely weak—hearsay is allowed in the review process, for example, and veterans are given the burden of proof when the VA claims they are unable to manage their finances. The entire process is conducted within the VA, with no “neutral decision maker.”
Grassley has a bill that would require “a judicial authority” to make this “mental defective” designation.
