GOP Amendment Allows ‘Mentally Incapacitated’ Vets to Buy Guns

[tekisui]

Source: The Raw Story

A provision in a Senate bill quietly adopted in 2008 yet to reach a vote would allow veterans in the FBI's criminal background system listed as "mentally incapacitated" to purchase firearms.

The provision is coming under fire in the wake of a mass shooting at Ft. Hood Army base earlier this month which killed 13. The new law would allow vets on the FBI list to buy weapons if they haven't been ruled ineligible by a judicial body.

A press release issued by Republican North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr explained his reasoning for the measure in 2008 after it was adopted by the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. The measure is also supported by a key Democratic senator -- Jim Webb of Virginia.

"Currently, when the Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA) appoints a fiduciary to assist a veteran with managing their financial affairs, VA also deems the veteran mentally incompetent and reports him or her to the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS)," Burr's release wrote. "The Veterans Second Amendment Protection Act would require a judicial body to deem a veteran, surviving spouse, or child as a danger to himself or others before being listed in NICS, which would prohibit the veteran from being able to purchase certain firearms. The legislation is supported by the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, AMVETS, and the Military Order of the Purple Heart.

"I am very pleased the committee endorsed this legislation protecting our veterans' second amendment rights," Burr said in the statement. "My bill would ensure America's brave men and women enjoy the rights they fought so hard to protect. This legislation was included in a larger piece of legislation that will improve the care provided to our veterans. I hope the Senate can quickly consider this bill and I urge my colleagues to support it."

more: http://rawstory.com/2009/11/gop-amendment-mentally-incapacitated-vets-buy-guns/

[TheWraith]

1. We need to define "mentally incapacitated."

The law prevents anyone from owning a firearm who is legally considered not mentally competant and/or safe. However, some returning vets are getting turned down by the system simply for having had the standard post-deployment PTSD counseling.

[Hepburn]

2. A danger to self or others...

...that would pretty much be the standard IMO that should be enforced.

[joeybee12]

4. Pertty simple to define, but lets give everyone guns first and

figure that out later!

[Deep13]

10. And it has to be decided by the probate court ...

...with the person in question represented by counsel.

[supernova]

3. Godl, I so want to get rid of Burr!

:grr: :grr: :grr:

He's such a dolt.

[tekisui]

5. His time is up. November 2010.

No more Burr.

[ensho]

6. the "mentally incapacitated" military or civilian should not have guns

its asking for trouble to think otherwise

[Hepburn]

7. A-fucking-men....

...and someone on another thread about this asked me about what other Const rights should they not have.

Unbelievable....!!! :wow:

[Deep13]

9. So if an executive agency decides you need help with your finances...

...that is enough to make you "mentally incapacitated?" Are we demanding that such people turn over their drivers' licenses too?

[slackmaster]

12. My mom is highly intelligent but has never been able to keep "left" and "right" straight

When you tell her something is to her left or to her right, she stares ahead blankly for several seconds then looks both ways.

Would you deny her the right to buy a gun, if she decided she wanted one?

[Deep13]

8. So "deemed" or "listed as" by the VA is the crux of the argument.

The amendment would require something more than a decision by a USDVA administrator to assist a veteran with his or her financial management to go on the FBI warning list. Sounds like a good idea to me. If a person is mentally incompetent, then that is a matter for the state probate court. The executive branch should not have the power to arbitrarily take away someones rights. Conceptually, that could be a good enough reason to strike someone from the voter registration list or the jury rolls too.

Anyway, was the Ft. Hood shooter "mentally incapacited" by the USDVA's definition? I doubt it. His planning and execution suggests otherwise.

[C_Lawyer09]

11. Jumping to conclusions

You did a good job making some very important points. When large bureaucratic organizations start taking rights, bad things happen. The Fort Hood shooter was not mentally incapacitated as you note, nor was the pillar of the community, church deacon, and land developer here in NC who recently killed his family and then shot himself.

[Statistical]

13. Of couse not as "sexy" as the misleading headline but your analysis is right on point.

If a civilian is a danger to themselves or others that is up to the courts to decide. If they determine that then they lose their access to firearms.

Military members shouldn't be a second class citizen denied due process where Constitutional rights are subject to a bureaucratic decision. The VA appointing a "financial adviser" doesn't rise to the level of proof (danger to themselves or others) necessary to strip rights.

[fascisthunter]

14. I Really Think the GOP wants Americans to Start Shooting Each Other

"culling the herd" as I have heard a conservative tell me once before in regards to a different topic. If ya think I'm lying just ask a few what they think about poor people killing each other... they are out there.