Tester to Senate Colleagues: Protect Veterans’ Second Amendment Rights from Federal Overreach in Government Funding Bill

Letter

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“I am writing to urge you to retain in conference a provision that would protect veterans’ access to legal firearms. It is not right that a DC bureaucrat at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) could take away a veteran’s legal right to firearms simply because they needed assistance managing their finances.”

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Veterans have made it clear that VA’s current practice is pushing some veterans away from the mental health care they need. The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) have previously testified that veterans often refuse to seek mental health care at VA out of fear their firearms will be unjustly taken away. The fact is - as VFW testified - this practice is adding to the stigma around veterans receiving mental health care, and creates a barrier to care for many and it has to change.

Veterans who have honorably served our country should not have their Second Amendment right taken away by federal bureaucrats without their day in court. We need to ensure the government does not infringe on veterans’ Second Amendment rights and that they are afforded due process protections. I urge you to retain this language in conference to protect veterans’ access to legal firearms and remove a barrier to veterans accessing mental health care at VA.”

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