U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Veterans' Affairs
01/23/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 01/23/2025 12:23
Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Chairman Luttrell Leads Oversight Hearing on VA’s Failure to Afford Veterans their Constitutional Due Process and Second Amendment Rights
Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Chairman Luttrell Leads Oversight Hearing on VA's Failure to Afford Veterans their Constitutional Due Process and Second Amendment Rights
Washington, January 23, 2025
Today, Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R-Texas), the Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs delivered the following opening remarks, as prepared at the start of the subcommittee's first oversight hearing to examine the VA's failure to give veterans any due process before violating their Constitution right to bear arms.
Good morning. The Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs will come to order.
Welcome to the new members of the subcommittee and to those returning.
It is a privilege to serve again as Chairman.
I look forward to continuing our work on a bipartisan basis with Ranking Member McGarvey.
Today we're taking a closer look at how the Department of Veterans Affairs fails to give veterans any due process before violating their Constitutional right to bear arms.
According to regulations issued by VA and the Department of Justice, VA must report - to the F.B.I.'s National Instant Criminal Background Check System - or the so-called "NICS list" - the name of any veteran who needs help from a fiduciary to manage their finances because of a disability.
These veterans sacrificed to protect the Constitutional due process and Second Amendment rights of every American.
Yet, for over two decades, without any due process, VA bureaucrats have stripped over two hundred and fifty thousand [250,000] veterans with fiduciaries of their Constitutional right to possess and purchase firearms.
This practice has wrongfully prevented veterans with fiduciaries from owning firearms, whether it's to protect themselves and their families, or for recreational purposes, or both, simply because they need help managing their finances.
VA reports these veterans to the NICS list without any ruling by any judge that they are a danger to themselves or others.
And VA does this without any medical finding by any medical professional that they are dangerous to themselves or their community.
It is important to understand that VA strips veterans of their Constitutional right to bear arms with zero medical evidence indicating they are suicidal, homicidal, or a threat to their community.
Under VA's current practice, at no point before VA reports a veteran to the NICS list does any medical professional ever need to say that a veteran is a risk to themselves or others.
It should go without saying that there is NO data to support that a veteran who is unable to manage their finances because of a disability is automatically dangerous.
In fact, advocates for mental health care emphasize that assuming anyone with a mental illness is dangerous, stigmatizes mental illness.
Ultimately, VA incorrectly assumes - without any evidence whatsoever - that a veteran should be stripped of their right to bear arms simply because they need help paying their bills.
By comparison, in every other State and Federal legal system, civilians and criminals must be proven dangerous by a judge based on evidence before they are stripped of their Constitutional right to bear arms.
Veterans with fiduciaries do NOT get that same due process.
Unlike every other American, veterans with fiduciaries must undergo difficult appeal processes where they must prove that they should be given back their Constitutional right to bear arms, only after they have been added to the NICS list.
This means that veterans are subject to different rules compared to every other American, even though veterans fought to protect every American's Constitutional rights. This is unacceptable.
Since March 9, 2024, VA has been temporarily prohibited from using any funds to report a veteran assigned a fiduciary to NICS without a court ruling that that veteran is a danger to themselves or others.
This hearing will reveal that Congress must pass a permanent legislative solution to protect veterans' Constitutional due process and Second Amendment rights.
This hearing is not about "guns on demand." It's about affording veterans with the same due process rights as every other American.
I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today. And thank you to Dr. Reynolds for traveling here from Alabama to testify.
With that, I yield to Ranking Member McGarvey.
Good morning. The Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs will come to order.
Welcome to the new members of the subcommittee and to those returning.
It is a privilege to serve again as Chairman.
I look forward to continuing our work on a bipartisan basis with Ranking Member McGarvey.
Today we're taking a closer look at how the Department of Veterans Affairs fails to give veterans any due process before violating their Constitutional right to bear arms.
According to regulations issued by VA and the Department of Justice, VA must report - to the F.B.I.'s National Instant Criminal Background Check System - or the so-called "NICS list" - the name of any veteran who needs help from a fiduciary to manage their finances because of a disability.
These veterans sacrificed to protect the Constitutional due process and Second Amendment rights of every American.
Yet, for over two decades, without any due process, VA bureaucrats have stripped over two hundred and fifty thousand [250,000] veterans with fiduciaries of their Constitutional right to possess and purchase firearms.
This practice has wrongfully prevented veterans with fiduciaries from owning firearms, whether it's to protect themselves and their families, or for recreational purposes, or both, simply because they need help managing their finances.
VA reports these veterans to the NICS list without any ruling by any judge that they are a danger to themselves or others.
And VA does this without any medical finding by any medical professional that they are dangerous to themselves or their community.
It is important to understand that VA strips veterans of their Constitutional right to bear arms with zero medical evidence indicating they are suicidal, homicidal, or a threat to their community.
Under VA's current practice, at no point before VA reports a veteran to the NICS list does any medical professional ever need to say that a veteran is a risk to themselves or others.
It should go without saying that there is NO data to support that a veteran who is unable to manage their finances because of a disability is automatically dangerous.
In fact, advocates for mental health care emphasize that assuming anyone with a mental illness is dangerous, stigmatizes mental illness.
Ultimately, VA incorrectly assumes - without any evidence whatsoever - that a veteran should be stripped of their right to bear arms simply because they need help paying their bills.
By comparison, in every other State and Federal legal system, civilians and criminals must be proven dangerous by a judge based on evidence before they are stripped of their Constitutional right to bear arms.
Veterans with fiduciaries do NOT get that same due process.
Unlike every other American, veterans with fiduciaries must undergo difficult appeal processes where they must prove that they should be given back their Constitutional right to bear arms, only after they have been added to the NICS list.
This means that veterans are subject to different rules compared to every other American, even though veterans fought to protect every American's Constitutional rights. This is unacceptable.
Since March 9, 2024, VA has been temporarily prohibited from using any funds to report a veteran assigned a fiduciary to NICS without a court ruling that that veteran is a danger to themselves or others.
This hearing will reveal that Congress must pass a permanent legislative solution to protect veterans' Constitutional due process and Second Amendment rights.
This hearing is not about "guns on demand." It's about affording veterans with the same due process rights as every other American.
I look forward to hearing from our witnesses today. And thank you to Dr. Reynolds for traveling here from Alabama to testify.
With that, I yield to Ranking Member McGarvey.