REP MIKE BOST: Time To Restore Veterans’ Constitutional Rights

The Constitution guarantees all Americans – regardless of their race, status, or creed – fundamental freedoms that shape our way of life. That includes the right to bear arms to protect ourselves and our families. But for too long, hundreds of thousands of veterans have wrongfully been discriminated against simply because they have fiduciaries to help them manage their finances. For decades those veterans have been automatically reported to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) list with zero evidence whatsoever that they are a danger to themselves or others. Even criminals receive due process in a court of law before they are reported to the NICS list. Yet, veterans have been treated worse than criminals simply because of their financial situation.

Under current law, a veteran who needs assistance managing their finances and VA benefits because of a disability – without any additional finding by a court of law or any medical professional that the veteran may be dangerous – is reported by a VA bureaucrat to the FBI’s NICS list and stripped of their Second Amendment rights. Although the FY 2024 MilCon/VA Appropriations bill and subsequent Continuing Resolutions ended this practice temporarily, veterans deserve a permanent fix. As a gun owner, veteran, hunter, and most importantly, an American, this unjust practice has disturbed me since I came to Congress over ten years ago. Why should veterans – the men and women who fought to defend the Constitutional rights of every American – be treated like second-class citizens when it comes to their own rights?

It is important to understand that VA strips disabled veterans of their Constitutional right to bear arms without ever considering whether they are suicidal, homicidal, or a threat to their community. VA’s practice stigmatizes and discriminates against the disabled veteran community. We simply cannot assume anyone with a disability is automatically dangerous. There is also zero data to support the idea that a veteran who is unable to manage their finances because of a disability is automatically dangerous. But the current law suggests otherwise – it’s time to change that for good.