Posted on 10/11/2007 5:20:46 PM PDT by Vets_Husband_and_Wife
Here is a copy of the first article I read, but I will address what I found out from Senators Boxers office and Sen. Fienstiens office today (10/11/07). I know this has been posted here before, BUT, it has now PASSED in Congress!
Read on:
Veterans Disarmament Act To Bar Vets From Owning Guns Larry Pratt
Sunday September 23, 2007
Hundreds of thousands of veterans -- from Vietnam through Operation Iraqi Freedom -- are at risk of being banned from buying firearms if legislation that is pending in Congress gets enacted.
How? The Veterans Disarmament Act -- which has already passed the House -- would place any veteran who has ever been diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) on the federal gun ban list.
This is exactly what President Bill Clinton did over seven years ago when his administration illegitimately added some 83,000 veterans into the National Criminal Information System (NICS system) -- prohibiting them from purchasing firearms, simply because of afflictions like PTSD.
The proposed ban is actually broader. Anyone who is diagnosed as being a tiny danger to himself or others would have his gun rights taken away ... forever. It is section 102((1)©(iv) in HR 2640 that provides for dumping raw medical records into the system.
Those names -- like the 83,000 records mentioned above -- will then, by law, serve as the basis for gun banning.
No wonder the Military Order of the Purple Heart is opposed to this legislation. The House bill, HR 2640, is being sponsored by one of the most flaming anti-Second Amendment Representatives in Congress: Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY).
Another liberal anti-gunner, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), is sponsoring the bill in the Senate.
Proponents of the bill say that helpful amendments have been made so that any veteran who gets his name on the NICS list can seek an expungement.
But whenever you talk about expunging names from the Brady NICS system, you're talking about a procedure that has always been a long shot. Right now, there are NO EXPUNGEMENTS of law-abiding Americans' names that are taking place under federal level.
Why? Because the expungement process which already exists has been blocked for over a decade by a "funds cut-off" engineered by another anti-gunner, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY).
So how will this bill make things even worse?
Well, two legal terms are radically redefined in the Veterans Disarmament Act to carry out this vicious attack on Veterans' gun rights.
One term relates to who is classified a "mental defective." Forty years ago that term meant one was adjudicated "not guilty" in a court of law by reason of insanity. But under the Veterans Disarmament Act, "mental defective" has been stretched to include anyone whom a psychiatrist determines might be a tiny danger to self or others.
The second term is "adjudicate." In the past, one could only lose one's gun rights through an adjudication by a judge, magistrate or court -- meaning conviction after a trial. Adjudication could only occur in a court with all the protections of due process, including the right to face one's accuser.
Now, adjudication in HR 2640 would include a finding by "a court, commission, committee or other authorized person" (namely, a psychiatrist).
Forget the fact that people with PTSD have the same violent crime rate as the rest of us. Vietnam vets with PTSD have had careers and obtained permits to carry firearms concealed.
It will now be enough for a psychiatric diagnosis (a "determination" in the language of the bill) to get a veteran barred for life from owning guns.
Think of what this bill would do to veterans. If a robber grabs your wallet and takes everything in it, but gives you back $5 to take the bus home, would you call that a financial enhancement? If not, then we should not let HR 2640 supporters call the permission to seek an expungement an enhancement, when prior to this bill, veterans could not legitimately be denied their gun rights after being diagnosed with PTSD.
Veterans with PTSD should not be put in a position to seek an expungement. They have not been convicted (after a trial with due process) of doing anything wrong.
If a veteran is thought to be a threat to self or others, there should be a real trial, not an opinion (called a diagnosis) by a psychiatrist.
If members of Congress do not hear from soldiers (active duty and retired) in large numbers, along with the rest of the public, the Veterans Disarmament Act -- misleadingly titled by Rep. McCarthy as the NICS Improvement Amendments Act -- will send this message to veterans: "No good deed goes unpunished."
If members of Congress do not hear from soldiers (active duty and retired) in large numbers, along with the rest of the public, the Veterans Disarmament Act -- misleadingly titled by Rep. McCarthy as the NICS Improvement Amendments Act -- will send this message to veterans: "No good deed goes unpunished."
You can thank the NRA and their bots, along with their claims that it is not gun control and that it does not do what GOA says it will do.
Yup.
Yup, same bill number.
Why would he, he is not up for re-election. He will just use the NRA’s talking points to downplay what GOA says it will do.
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One big problem that I have is that a crime that is a misdomeanor in one state could be a felony in another. Does that mean that they will be considered felons?
I forgot to add, that it will include restraining orders. Not all ROs are given under due process (boiler plate part of divorces in some states).
There, fixed it. The NRA talking points on this are a spun distortion.
The bill was put on the House Suspension Calendar (normally reserved for “non-controversial” bills) at 8:30 AM June 13th and by 11:30 AM the bill passed by a voice vote.
The Senate Judiciary Committee passed the Senate version of the McCarthy bill by an unrecorded voice vote. Sen. Coburn was the only person to try to stop the bill.
While Senator Coburn Successfully Blocks The McCarthy Bill...
Sen. Coburn Standing Alone In Holding Up The Veterans Disarmament Act - Coburn needs your help...
It might be worth using the Senator's contact form at via his Senate web page to let him know that you appreciate his efforts at stopping this bill.
I see the time line now. Thanks
I see the time line now. Thanks
On June 13, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed H.R. 2640, the “NICS Improvement Act,” by a voice vote.
If we live much longer just being a combat veteran will make you a felon. I love watching these woosie politicians break out in a sweat when they talk about gun control. I expect that we all will be criminals of one sort or another after the next election. But, hey, I’d rather die with my boots on than laying in bed with a hose stuck up my arse.
There are probably a lot of veteran cops, currently employed, who have been in the military and who have been diagnosed with PTSD. They’re carrying.
Using Logan’s Ping List for more exposure to this atrocity of a bill. PLEASE do some research on this thread and make the calls.
Thank you!
I’m not able to serve but I have some friends that are current and retired military. I fully support their right to own firearms for their entire lifetime.
BTTT
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