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House Republicans led a vote to repeal a policy that made it unlawful for those on Social Security disability with a representative payee to exercise their 2nd Amendment rights.
Republicans in the House, with the help of the NRA, led a vote of 235-180 to repeal a gun-grab policy implemented under the Obama Administration.
The policy called for making it unlawful for those to carry firearms that were on social security disability and have a representative payee to manage their finances. The policy outraged protectors of the Second Amendment and became a highlighted issue for the NRA for more than a year.
The NRA called the policy under the Obama administration a ‘back door-gun grab’, as the policy-makers were unable to find an established link between those the inability to manage finances and the ability to possess a firearm.
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Seniors on social security disability were at risk of having their second amendment rights stripped.
Seniors on social security disability were at risk of having their second amendment rights stripped.
NRA members and Second Amendment protectors weren’t the only groups outraged at the policy, advocates for the disabled scolded the policymakers on expanding the stigma of mental health. The National Council on Disability wrote in response to the policy: “There is, simply put, no nexus between the inability to manage money and the ability to safely and responsibly own, possess or use a firearm.”
The policy under Obama’s administration affected 4.2 million Americans, according to the Los Angeles Times. 4.2 million Americans on social security do not have the power over their finances and have a representative payee instead.
Critics of the policy argued the Obama administration sought to implement gun-control and those thought to be incapable of fight for their own rights.
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Under the new Trump administration, the NRA has been vocal about its effort to increase gun rights under a supportive President. The NRA has renamed itself on social media to the National Rifle Association for Legislative Action. The NRA has also stated in multiple press releases that it is “now playing offense” under the Trump administration.
The director os the NRA for Leglislative Action, Chris Cox, endorsed President Trump early on his campaign trail.
The director os the NRA for Leglislative Action, Chris Cox, endorsed President Trump early on his campaign trail.
The NRA for Legislative Action will continue to draw attention to policies that strip Americans of their second Amendment rights. This policy attributed those on social security disability that have a representative payee as incapable of carrying a firearm and labeled them as dangerous. Seniors on social security cannot have their constitutional rights taken away without legal basis or evidence proving them to be dangerous.
NRA spokesman, Jennifer Baker, argued “From a due process standpoint, the government never established those facts in the first place. You can’t take away a constitutional right without providing due process.”
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Another NRA spokeman, Lars Dalesiede also spoke in support of the policy repeal, “Instead they are set to strip away your constitutional rights just because you meet a set of criteria established by a group of faceless bureaucrats you’ll never meet.”
“That puts thousands of Americans in the terrible position of choosing whether to pay their bills or give up their constitutional rights,” Dalesiede said.
Republican House Representatives, such as Sam Johnson of Texas and Ralph Abraham of Louisiana, led the afford to pass Judiciary Resolution 40 in the House.
The House repealed the anti gun policy implemented under the Obama administration with a vote of 235-180.
The House repealed the anti gun policy implemented under the Obama administration with a vote of 235-180.
By passing House Judiciary Resolution 40, House Republicans repealed Obama’s back-door-gun-grab and placed the right to bear arms back into those disabled on social security.
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The executive director of the NRA of Legislative Action, Chris Cox, announced his approval on social media.
“Congress’s decision to review the Obama administration’s back-door gun grab is a significant step forward in restoring the fundamental constitutional rights of many law-abiding gun owners,” said Cox.
“The NRA has been fighting this unconstitutional government overreach since it was first discussed and we look forward to swift congressional action to overturn it.”
The U.S. Social Security administration responded to the gun-grab policy repeal in its most bureaucratic way possible:
“We are not attempting to imply a connection between mental illness and a propensity for violence, particularly gun violence. Rather, we are complying with our obligations under the NIAA, which require us to provide information from our records when an individual falls within one of the categories identified in 18 U.S.C. 922(g),” The Social Security administration wrote.
The Social Security administration did not defend policymakers who first implemented the anti-gun, anti-American legislation. They simply passed the blame back to policymakers.
Left-wing MSM news commentators took to Twitter to express their disapproval of the House vote. Rachel Maddow from MSNBC tweeted:
“Is there someone who ran for office on the need to get guns into the hands of people who are literally too mentally ill to cash a check?”
Those who supported the repeal, like Blake Farenthold who serves the 27th Congressional district in Texas, announced the repeal excitedly.
“Today, the House will vote to reverse the Obama administration’s Social Security gun ban. #2nd Amendment.” Farenthold tweeted.
Ari Ne’emam was one of Obama’s appointees to the National Council on Disability. Ne’emam who sided with the NRA on the policy did an interview with Vox to explain his unusual predicament of siding with those he usually fights against- the Republicans.
“It is somewhat ironic to see the congressional GOP adopt the role of champion for the rights of people with psychiatric disabilities in the gun control debate. For the past several years, many in the Republican Party have deliberately scapegoated this group in order to shift the conversation away from sensible firearms restrictions,” Ne’emam wrote.
“Shortly after the Newtown massacre, the same National Rifle Association that collaborated with the disability community in opposing the Social Security rule issued a bizarre and terrifying proposal for ‘an active national database of the mentally ill,’ a far more expansive proposal than anything to come out of the Obama Administration.”
The policy was one of a handful of policies House Republicans are working to repeal that were implemented under the Obama administration.
The repealed gun-grab policy restores constitutional rights to those on social security disability.
The repealed gun-grab policy restores constitutional rights to those on social security disability.
Republican Greg Walden of Oregon said, “The resolutions only require simple majorities to pass, they will probably sail through the House and then pass the Senate, where Democrats, the minority party, cannot mount a filibuster against them.”
The House Republications will continue to repeal gun-grabbing policies implemented under the Obama legislation as long as they vote together and keep the majority vote.