Trump Signs Repeal of Obama-Era Social Security Gun Prohibition Rule. Read more…
Source: NRA-ILA
On Tuesday, Feb 28, President Donald J. Trump signed the repeal of an Obama-era Social Security Administration (SSA) rule that would have resulted in some 75,000 law-abiding beneficiaries losing their Second Amendment rights each year.
The SSA rulemaking was issued in the waning weeks of Obama’s presidency and targeted those receiving disability insurance or Supplementary Security Income based on SSA’s listed mental disorders and who were appointed a “representative payee” to help them manage their benefits. The agency — for the first time in its history — sought to portray these individuals as “mental defectives” who were prohibited from acquiring or possessing firearms under federal law. It had planned to notify them of their prohibited status and to report them to NICS.
Making matters worse, the beneficiaries would have had no ability to argue about their suitability to possess firearms before their rights were lost. Instead, they would have been reduced to filing a petition for “restoration” of their rights, an expensive and bureaucratic process that would have required them to pay for a mental health evaluation and to prove they were not dangerous, a premise the government never established in the first place.
The plan drew fire not just from the NRA, but also from the ACLU and a wide range of mental health advocacy and treatment groups from across the political spectrum. Also opposing the plan was the National Council on Disability (NCD), an independent federal agency charged with advising the President, Congress, and other federal agencies regarding policies, programs, practices, and procedures that affect people with disabilities. The NCD issued a statement explaining:
Since the action was first proposed in 2013, NCD has consistently taken the position that equating the need for assistance in managing one’s finances with a false presumption of incapacity in other areas of life, including possession of a firearm, unnecessarily and unreasonably deprives individuals with disabilities of a constitutional right and increases the stigma that [affects] those who may need a representative payee. The overly broad classification of “mental disorder,” includes a wide range of limitations and a shifting set of criteria relevant to whether or not one can engage in substantial gainful activity. NCD remains steadfast in our position that this classification remains irrelevant to the question of whether one can be a responsible gun owner.
The SSA received tens of thousands of comments in opposition to the rule. The NRA-ILA’s submission explained in detail how the rule was contrary to the underlying statute, to the U.S. Constitution and would function mainly to stigmatize the SSA beneficiaries and discourage others from seeking treatment and benefits to which they were entitled. It also argued that there was no empirical support for the notion that the rule would promote public safety.
The SSA, however, ignored the comments and issued the rule essentially as proposed.
It also brazenly brushed aside proffered evidence that the targeted beneficiaries were not at any increased risk for committing violence with firearms. “We are not attempting to imply a connection between mental illness and a propensity for violence, particularly gun violence,” the SSA wrote. “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).”
Fortunately, pro-gun majorities in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate acted quickly to disapprove the rule under the Congressional Review Act, a federal statute that allows Congress to use an expedited legislative process to overrule administrative actions passed in the waning days of an outgoing administration.
The efforts to roll back this unjustified and legally unauthorized rule were predictably met with a withering barrage of negative and fake reporting from the anti-gun media, with supposed “news” outlets issuing such ludicrous headlines as “Senate, House hand guns to seriously mentally ill.” All these reports completely ignored the fact that existing restrictions on persons who had been involuntarily committed or adjudicated mentally incompetent remained fully intact. By acting to block the rule, Congress simply disapproved the Obama administration’s attempt to create a new class of prohibited persons by “reinterpreting” a federal gun control statute passed in 1968.
President Trump’s signing of the measure not only served to help repair the damage to the Second Amendment wrought by the Obama administration, it ushered in what many hope will be a new era of respect for the right to keep and bear arms. Just over a month into his presidency, Trump signed a free-standing pro-gun bill into law.
The NRA, of course, was among the earliest and staunchest supporters of Trump’s presidential bid. We thank him for his quick action on this measure and look forward to working with him and the pro-gun majorities in Congress to protect Americans’ Second Amendment rights.
Thank god obama is gone and hillary never made it !!!!! Sad thing is what does the future hold for us ? While I feel fairly secure with the current administration standing behind the 2nd amendment .question is will the next administration?????????????? Sneaky b****rds will never go away .
This anti-gun rule by the SSA was ill-conceived and unfair, which is why even more liberal organizations opposed it.
As an SSA recipient and gun owner, I’m glad to see it is gone. But don’t be fooled by a clearly unstable President Trump who wants to be a dictator. His attacks against minorities, other branches of Federal Government, the press and other media outlets, constant lies and attempts at distractions are straight out of the dictator playbook. Don’t forget the really good article in the NRA’s magazine about dictators ultimately coming for the guns of law-abiding citizens. You could be sure he would actually like to abolish the 2nd Amendment and confiscate ours as he would see honest, law-abiding gun owners as a threat to him.
Where do you get off with this?
Please don’t call other commenters names. Dissension and discussion are encouraged.
Better check your tinfoil hat for holes Stuart. Our president continues to do exactly what he said he would do during his campaign. As for being unstable you have missed the mark completely. The left wingers are the only unstable ones out there. If you refer to his accusing obama about wiretapping him as being unstable I suggest you review obama’s record of unconstitutional mandates and executive orders. A man such as this is very capable of illegally wiretapping anyone he perceives as a threat. His lies and deceit and 8 years of bad deals that clearly hurt America and its citizens but benefited our enemy’s is proof enough he was your dictator Stuart, not president Trump. obama packed every government agency with his supporters and that’s where the leaks are coming from now. The only people who will be coming for your guns in the middle of the night are the communists disguised as liberal progressive democrats. The same traitors to America that our president battles everyday. The same people who obstruct him at every turn for his cabinet appointments and border security and could care less about America or its citizens and the safety of both. The same people whose leader Sen. Schumer has publicly announced that he will block our president on every issue no matter what it is. These are the ones who put party first above country. Thankfully our president puts America first and thankfully our president will see that this does not happen on his watch. And you call him unstable? What dictator improves health care, creates and brings back jobs, eliminates unconstitutional executive orders and protects the borders like the law directs him to.
What dictator works 20 hrs. a day for the betterment of the country and its citizens? Your fears and accusations are very misplaced Stuart. I suggest you visit N. Korea if you want to see a real dictator because we just got rid of ours after 8 years here in America.
Trump’s approval rating is down to 37%, but I guess you can’t figure out why that is. FBI Director Comey said there was no Obama wiretapping of Trump, who at this juncture should be impeached for telling this lie, which tops all his other lies. You clearly are one of those “brainwashed” supporters and you would do fine living in North Korea and supporting Kim. I’m no fan of Obama or the lying Clintons who certainly were looking to erode our gun rights. Obama certainly lied when he said about the ACA that “If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor.” I’m sure he told the Iranians that if they like their nuclear inspector, they can keep their nuclear inspector. Leaks? They are coming from Trump’s own White House staff which is why paranoid Spicer had all their cell phones examined. Have you seen the news lately about more companies cutting back and laying workers off? Have you really read the new health care bill to see how many will lose insurance and no longer will afford it. Trump is losing his supporters, many of whom have realized that it is they who will lose their healthcare, which is why he is still holding campaign style rallies. Trump putting America first? No, he is putting his wealthy Republican supporters first as you can understand if you study his tax plan and his healthcare bill which many organizations and other Republicans are opposed to.
Well Stuart it’s obvious that you’re one of those individuals who think 8 years of lies and deceit is going to be straightened out in 2 months. It’s not. And lets not get into polls. We all know how accurate and manipulative they are. If they has the least bit of accuracy the election would have been much tighter if not different in its outcome. I haven’t read the new health care bill Stuart,and neither have YOU, because it has not been presented in its final form yet. It will be changed in the Senate many times before it is finalized. I suggest you wait and see the final draft when and if it gets passed before passing judgement on it or the president. He has been in office 2 months. Even you’re employment probationary period was longer than that. Give him a damn chance to do his job without speculating and passing on gossip about what he is doing to save this country from becoming a socialist/communist society like the liberal progressive democrats continue to do and have been trying to do for the last 40 years. As far as FBI director James Comey goes, do you really believe anything he says given the circus act he performed in front of congress? He is an obama appointee. That bulb should have lit up a long time ago. This is not politics Stuart. This is taking over a country from within. The seeds of socialism and communism have been planted a long time ago and have begun to blossom during the obama clinton days. I suggest you read the Marxist principles and compare them to what is going on in this country today. That should light another bulb. The president not only has enemy’s in the democrats but in the republicans as well along with most of the news media. I do not envy him his task. I will however support OUR president as we all should if we expect an acceptable outcome in returning America to a strong, self sufficient leader in the world that it once was.
Obama got 8 years to destroy America. You can at least give our president more than 2 months to fix it.
I will give the president his first term before passing judgement on him. The communist democrats, and you obviously, choose NOT to.
We have all seen enough of the constant lies told by Trump to know just what we have in the White House. He has been given his chance, but he is such a pathological liar that he can’t stop himself. His Obama wiretapping charge has now been fully and publically repudiated by the FBI and DOJ. Do you now acknowledge this lie, or is your support that blind? You just don’t get it. When Trump has undermined our Constitution further, which our courts know is what he has been doing and is his intention, he will be forced to resign or be impeached, which he should already be due to his false wiretapping accusation against the previous President. Then you will finally come around and wonder what you have done in voting for this nut. Unfortunately, after Trump, we then get Pence, a man who, as a Creationist, thinks that the Grand Canyon is just 4,000 years old and cave people like the Flintstones lived there with their pet dinosaurs. Trump, his VP and his key White House staff are like the Klown Car at the circus. This Putin lover has already insulted Germany, Australia and the UK, countries among our staunchest allies. I hope our free press and media continue to go after him and call him out on his “alternative facts” as they have been doing.
” His Obama wiretapping charge has now been fully and publicly repudiated by the FBI and DOJ. Do you now acknowledge this lie, or is your support that blind? You just don’t get it. When Trump has undermined our Constitution further, which our courts know is what he has been doing and is his intention, he will be forced to resign or be impeached, which he should already be due to his false wiretapping accusation against the previous President. Then you will finally come around and wonder what you have done in voting for this nut. ”
Well Stuart, your true colors have finally surfaced. The fact that the FBI and the DOJ have stated that they could not find any evidence to support the presidents claim of wiretapping doesn’t mean that his claim was repudiated or is a lie. It only means that they can’t substantiate it at this point in time. But like most liberal democrats you twist this information to your creative meaning to attack the president. To say that president Trump has undermined The Constitution further is just pure liberal fantasy. Your fantasy. When did he undermine The Constitution? You have not provided one verifiable fact to support your delusion. If you’re referring to his immigration orders that are being blocked by the “liberal democratic” courts by the obama appointed judges who have an overturn rate of 97%, try again. The president has every right under The Constitution to limit or ban anyone from entering this country if he feels they would pose a danger to the country or its citizens. That’s a fact that will become very clear in the Supreme Court when the case is heard there. As far as impeaching the president Stuart, on what grounds would you try and impeach him? He has not committed any impeachable act, unlike his predecessor, who you seem to revere and feel a very strong need to protect. I can assure you president Trump will never resign. He will fight for this country to the end in spite of all the fake news and baseless allegations being pushed by the democrats and the liberal news media in their efforts to obstruct his presidency.
Speaking of nuts Stuart, the only nuts I have heard lately are those democratic senators like Pelosi and Waters who can’t even remember who the president is today and the democratic lemmings who follow them .
There are only two kinds of individuals I have run across that share your feelings on this matter. 1. Those who will defend the communist democrats to the end and get all their news from the lying liberal news media and 2. those Clinton supporters who just can’t get out of the denial stage in their grief because they just can’t face the fact that they lost and all the years that they spent in preparation to destroy this country have now failed.
America is moving forward and will once again be a strong leader on the world stage. You can either be a part of its success or a victim of it. The choice is yours.
You still don’t accept that Trump is a liar about his wiretapping accusations against Obama. Paul Ryan knows it is false. Do you disagree with him? Notice how Trump will not even take questions about it, and notice how Pence has stayed out of it so as not to embarrass himself. Remember his false claim about all the voter fraud? Notice he says nothing about that now. He holds campaign rallies for his ardent supporters, but says nothing to them about the things he has lied about Notice, too, that Trump even tried to involve the UK in this wiretapping claim, again disputed by them and souring our alliance. We will not be a world leader under Putin loving Trump; quite the opposite, we will lose our standing in the world. You should not be buying the conservative right-wing nonsense. Note that I have never been a fan of Obama or the Clintons. As a Democrat and avid antique firearms collector (see “Kragman shooting his”) , I voted for the crotch-grabbing Trump as lessor of the two evils with the belief that maybe a business person would be good for the country, and I certainly did not care or trust Hillary. I was hoping that Trump would start to take his Presidency seriously and stop his lying tweets, but that is just not happening. I am actually among his early supporters who have been disappointed. His travel bans have been designed to simply discriminate against Muslims on the basis of religion, which is why even a Bush appointed judge ruled it unconstitutional.
Well, enough of this, and it’s good to have debated with you. If you come to New York someday, we can meet and talk more, and go out to a range in Long Island and do some serious antique Mauser shooting. I will soon be leaving for AZ where I will be at the Ben Avery range.
Best regards!
I enjoyed our debate as well Stuart. Have a safe trip and enjoy Arizona. It’s a beautiful state. I’ve been there many times. If you get a chance check out this article from last night by Congressman Nunez chairman of the House intelligence committee at this link http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2017/03/22/nunes-unmasking-report-vindicates-trump-claims-surveillance/
Apparently he has uncovered some information that now President Trump and his transition team were under surveillance by the obama administration. Of course you won’t find this in any of the mainstream media but, hopefully someday we will know the whole truth behind this matter.
Shoot well and watch out for the scorpions.
Thank you, John, for your kind wishes. This only proves that people with different political views can be friends, just like James Carville, a liberal Democrat, and his wife, who is a conservative Republican. How do they stay married all these years? You can see me on “Kragman shooting his.” Just to also let you know that since I have a daughter living in Sydney, Australia, when I visit her and her family, I get to shoot with the New South Wales Rifle Association at the ANZAC range. They loan me an old Enfield and put me in a shooting competition. They want me to one day bring one of my antique Mausers. I checked with Australian Customs, and they said no problem there and sent me a one page form to fill out. Note that Nunez apologized for leaking information and interfering with the investigation into Trump’s ties with Russia. The information involves surveillance of Russians where conversations with US citizens are “captured.” This is all well known and routine in the intelligence community with these Russians. He has also said that there is no evidence that Obama had wiretapped Trump. Even more interesting is that the British agent who did a report that alleged ties between Russia and Trump, where the Russians may have something on Trump, is getting more credibility in the intelligence community. This is something worth watching. Initially, this report was not taken too seriously and seemed to lack corroboration.
WOW! One could argue the previous administration, with their machinations working to sway the media, turning it into a propaganda machine, is guilty of the same, and quite a bit more.
Meant for Stuart.