Veterans Disarmament Act Will It Pass

Veterans Disarmament Act To Bar Vets From Owning Guns
gun owners.org
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(b)(1)(C)(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.”

CO-Sponsors:
Rep Bishop, Timothy H. [NY-1] – 6/11/2007
Rep Boucher, Rick [VA-9] – 6/11/2007
Rep Capps, Lois [CA-23] – 6/11/2007
Rep Castle, Michael N. [DE] – 6/11/2007
Rep Christensen, Donna M. [VI] – 6/13/2007
Rep Dingell, John D. [MI-15] – 6/11/2007
Rep Emanuel, Rahm [IL-5] – 6/11/2007
Rep Lowey, Nita M. [NY-18] – 6/11/2007
Rep Moore, Dennis [KS-3] – 6/11/2007
Rep Moran, James P. [VA-8] – 6/11/2007
Rep Pascrell, Bill, Jr. [NJ-8] – 6/11/2007
Rep Ross, Mike [AR-4] – 6/13/2007
Rep Schakowsky, Janice D. [IL-9] – 6/11/2007
Rep Shays, Christopher [CT-4] – 6/11/2007
Rep Sherman, Brad [CA-27] – 6/12/2007
Rep Smith, Lamar [TX-21] – 6/11/2007
Rep Wasserman Schultz, Debbie [FL-20] – 6/11/2007

some quotes about the bill…
from www.gunowners.org

“Through the years, we’ve had our differences with the National Rifle Association…. Today, we write in praise the NRA.” — The San Francisco Chronicle 06/15/07

“The Virginia Tech shootings were a horrific reminder of the gaps in U.S. gun laws. The [NRA] knew its usual opposition to any and every solution we brought forward would be unacceptable to the American public so it made this concession.” — Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence e-mail alert

“For the first time [in history, HR 2640], if enacted, would statutorily impose a lifetime gun ban on battle-scarred veterans.” — Military Order of the Purple Heart 06/18/07

“The NRA has told its members in the past that Carolyn McCarthy is one of the worst of the gun banners and now the NRA has crawled in bed with her!” — Virginia Citizens Defense League

“We’re hopeful that now that the NRA has come around to our point of view in terms of strengthening the Brady background checks, that now we can take the next step after this bill passes [to impose additional gun control].” — Paul Helmke of the Brady Campaign on CNN 06/13/07

Wild Thing’s comment……..
When I was 7 years old, my Dad would take me to the pasture, far away from the stables and set up a target practice shooting range. He taught me how to use a gun, to respect it and what it was capable of doing, to not be afraid of it, that it was and is the person with the gun not the gun that is dangerous. He taught me how important it is to have a gun or guns for protection always and………………………..He told me that one day, it was very possible that in our country the government would knock on our door, or any door of a citizen and come for the guns in the household.
I pray this Veterans Disarmament Act does not pass.
Thank you John (VN 89-70) so much for the information below. VERY Importan to read this below everyone, thank you so much.

UPDATE:

The NRA has addressed this article and has
actually cleared up some of the information in the article.

http://www.nraila.org//Issues/Articles/Read.aspx?ID=246
Please click on the link from the NRA to read what they are saying about this bill.