The Obama administration put a ruling in place that would require that all social security recipients who are deemed mentally incapable of managing their own affairs to undergo a background check prior to owning a gun. This week, the Senate voted to abolish that regulation with a 57 to 43 vote after the House cleared the legislation last month. Now the repeal goes to President Trump’s desk.
Patrick James, President of Cold Dead Hands, a Texas-based national second amendment group, told American Military News that President Trump’s decision of whether or not he decides to move forward with repealing Obama’s unconstitutional law will be a test of his trustworthiness.
“If Trump is to prove trustworthy to his promises, reversing this and other unconstitutional federal gun laws such as the NFA of ’34 or GCA of ’68, is a must,” James told American Military News. “Besides, if it makes the ‘Brady Bunch’ freak out, he’s on the right track.”
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) explained why he wanted to overturn the regulation.
“The agency regulation is defective in many ways,” Grassley said. “Namely, the regulation does not require the agency to prove a person is dangerous or mentally ill. The regulation also provides NO formal hearing or due process before a person is reported to the gun ban list.”
Those in favor of Obama’s ban argue that repealing this regulation obstructs the enforcement of gun prohibition laws.
“That is hogwash,” Grassley said of those claims. “We should not let baseless scare tactics confuse this important issue. Important federal gun laws are still on the books even if the agency rule is repealed. We aren’t repealing any laws. The new regulation is inconsistent with existing federal gun laws.”
Even with the repeal, social security must still report anyone who has actually been adjudicated as dangerously mentally ill to the gun ban list. They must also report anyone convicted of a felony or a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence or involuntarily committed to a mental institution. Grassley says repealing this regulation will ensure that disabled citizen’s Second Amendment rights are protected. Those rights will no longer be able to be revoked without a hearing and without due process. It will take more than the personal opinion of a bureaucrat.
However, gun control advocate, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) said holds a different opinion on the issue.
“The Republicans are so hypocritical on this issue,” Murphy said. “They constantly say we should be enforcing existing law, and then they are, at the same time, rewriting the law so that fewer people will be put on the criminal background check system.”
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