On Tuesday, a New York Times editorial excoriated the U.S. House for voting to roll back a last-minute Obama Social Security Administration plan to add 75,000 citizens to the list barring them from buying a gun. SSA planned to flag citizens asking for assistance to help them manage their affairs as “mentally defective,” denying them a Constitutional right without going through a court.
The Times wrote that NRA “want(s) to make it easier for those with schizophrenia, psychotic disorders and other mental health problems to buy guns”—an appalling misrepresentation. The severely mentally ill are already barred from gun ownership; the SSA action would have mislabeled tens of thousands of Americans in a blatant effort to reduce gun ownership.
In an excellent article, A1F.org contributor Charles C.W. Cooke counters this media hyperventilation. He also explains why the ACLU, the American Association of People with Disabilities, ARC, ADAPT and scores of other civil and disability rights organizations wanted the SSA overruled. But in the Times’ view, no rights are safe when there’s a chance to constrict the Second Amendment.
