Press Releases

WASHINGTON, DC – Today, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Mike Bost (R-Ill.), released the following statement after the House and Senate Appropriations Committees released the bill text for the fiscal year (FY) 2024 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act. The bicameral bill includes language Chairman Bost fought for to prohibit the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from submitting a veteran or beneficiary’s name to the FBI’s NICS list without a judge’s consent, a longstanding priority of the House Republican conference to safeguard veterans’ Second Amendment rights.

Under current law, and since 1993, a veteran who needs assistance managing their finances and benefits – without an additional finding by a court of law that the veteran may be a danger to themselves or others – is immediately reported to the FBI’s NICS list and stripped of their Second Amendment right to legally purchase and own a firearm. The FY 2024 MilCon/VA Appropriations bill would end this practice and afford veterans with fiduciaries the due process rights they fought to protect.

“For far too long, the men and women who have fought for all American’s constitutional rights were wrongfully treated differently when it came to their own rights. No veteran should lose their constitutional right to bear arms simply because they need help managing their finances, and if they are a danger to themselves or others, a judge should make that decision – not a VA bureaucrat. As Chairman, a sportsman, and a veteran, getting the veteran community the due process rights they have earned has long been one of my top priorities,” said Chairman Bost. “I want to thank my friends, Speaker Johnson, Appropriations Chairwoman Granger, Judge Carter, Ranking Member Moran, Senator Kennedy, and the numerous veteran service organizations who sounded the alarm on the current VA policies negative impact on their veteran members for joining me in this fight, and working with me to ensure we could finally put end to this discriminatory practice through the VA appropriations process. This is long overdue.”

Background:
At the start of the 118th Congress, Chairman Bost announced that one of his top legislative priorities in the new Republican majority was ending the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA’s) discriminatory practice towards veterans with fiduciaries. Under current law, if a veteran uses a fiduciary to manage their VA benefits, they are automatically – without a judge or court ruling – reported to the FBI’s NICS list and stripped of their Second Amendment rights. The Chairman’s bill, H.R. 705, the Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act, would end this practice and prohibit VA from sending information on veterans (or beneficiaries) who are assisted by a fiduciary to NICS without a judicial ruling that they are a danger to themselves or others. This bill would ensure that veterans are afforded the same due process that every other American receives before any action is taken that would deprive them of one of their constitutional rights. The amendment Chairman Bost fought to include in the House passed version of the FY24 MilCon/VA Appropriations bill was introduced and passed in the Senate to do the same. Following the conference between the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, the language was included in the fiscal year 2024 MilCon/VA appropriations bill.

Fixing this policy has long been supported by the following veteran service organizations (VSOs) and advocacy groups: The American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Mission Roll Call, The National Rifle Association, Gun Owners of America, National Defense Committee, Vets 4 Vet Leadership, Veteran Warriors, Catholic War Veterans, and National Association for Gun Rights.