President Trump Signs Appropriations Package that Includes Protections for Veterans’ Second Amendment Rights into Law

Today, President Donald Trump signed into law a legislative proposal to reopen the federal government. Included in the legislation is a provision that prohibits the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from stripping the constitutional right of veterans to possess a firearm simply because they have been appointed a fiduciary to manage their benefits.

While the NRA applauds President Trump and Congress for extending these protections for another year, the time has come for Congress to pass the Veterans 2^nd Amendment Protection Act (H.R. 1041/S.478), which will permanently prohibit the VA from submitting the names of veterans to NICS without due process.

On May 6^th, the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs held a markup which improved the Veterans 2^nd Amendment Protection Act by including language which will retroactively remove the unconstitutional inclusion of veterans to the NICS database. The legislation was favorably reported by the committee and now awaits consideration by the full House of Representatives. The Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs has yet to markup the bill but NRA-ILA continues to push for the Senate to move quickly to protect our veterans constitutional rights.

NRA-ILA will continue to work closely with lawmakers to ensure the Veterans 2^nd Amendment Protection Act is brought to the House and Senate floors and sent to President Trump’s desk to protect the constitutional rights of our nation’s veterans.