“Veterans who fought to defend the Constitution should also be allowed the rights to protect it.”
Those words are those of Representative and chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs Phil Roe, who sponsored a bill to overturn legislation stating veterans deemed “mentally incompetent” by the VA can be denied weapons permits. On the chamber floor Thursday, Roe stated that current law “deprives veterans of their constitutional rights without due process of law.” Florida Democrat Alcee Hastings disagreed, and was “disgusted” by the bill: “I don’t support crazy people having guns, whether they’re veterans or not.”
Evidently Roe’s words were persuasive. Twelve Democrats along with Republican collaborators voted in favor of the new legislation, stating a judge must first rule if veterans are a danger to themselves or others before the Department of Veteran Affairs can deny them any purchase of a firearm. The NRA-backed ‘Veterans Second Amendment Protection Act’ passed the house 240-175.
