Senators: V.A. has denied gun rights to more than 100,000 veterans

NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 11: Frank Squirrel, U.S. Army Korean War veteran and member of the Cherokee Nation Color Guard, looks on before the start of the annual Veterans Day parade November 11, 2009 in New York City. FILE (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

The VA currently has two options for a veteran to challenge an incompetency determination. He or she can reopen the issue based on new evidence and have the determination reversed. Veterans can also petition VA to have their firearms rights restored on the basis that they pose no threat to public safety.

“Although VA has admittedly been slow in implementing this relief program, we now have relief procedures in place, and we are fully committed going forward to implement this program in a timely and effective manner in order to fully protect the rights of our beneficiaries,” the spokesperson added.

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, a pro-gun control group, has staunchly opposed the legislation in all of its forms. Acting Brady Campaign president Dennis Henigan said the bill on its face “poses a severe threat to public safety.”

“The standard that that the VA has announced and the ATF has approved has to do with mental incapacity,” Henigan said. “I have no reason to doubt that the names that have been submitted by the VA to the NICS meets those standards. There are very strong due process protections built into the VA process, which is what the ATF has found for many years.”

The VA also contends that the new legislation would create a double standard.

“By exempting certain VA mental health determinations that would otherwise prohibit a person from possessing or obtaining firearms under Federal law, the legislation would create a different standard for veterans and their survivors than that applicable to the rest of the population and could raise public safety issues,” the VA spokesperson said.

More than 7.6 million Social Security beneficiaries are assigned fiduciaries, but the Social Security Administration does not forward any of those names to the NICS.

U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano named military veterans as a potential threat in a 2009 memo describing the threat of homegrown terrorism.

“The return of military veterans facing significant challenges reintegrating into their communities could lead to the potential emergence of terrorist groups or lone wolf extremists capable of carrying out violent attacks,” the memo stated.

Napolitano quickly apologized.

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