WASHINGTON — Lawmakers are debating whether an effort to prevent veterans' suicides infringes upon Constitutional guarantees.
It boils down to a question of protecting vets from self-harm versus defending these same veterans' Second Amendment rights.
According to the Department of Veterans Affairs' most recent report last September, firearms were used in 71% of veterans' deaths by suicide. It's a jump of 45% since 2001. However, Republican lawmakers on Tuesday accused VA leaders of depriving some veterans of their rights.
At issue before the House Veterans Affairs Committee was legislation proposed by House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost (R-Illinois) called the "Veterans Second Amendment Protection Act."
Bost's bill would block VA officials from sharing some information with the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, a federal database used to determine whether an individual can buy firearms.
Bost said about 8,000 veterans were reported to the system last year, most for financial incompetence reasons and not criminal acts or specific mental health problems.
"Even criminals have better due process rights than the men and women who fought to protect our Constitutional rights in the first place," said Bost.
Democrats on the committee said the bill could end up leading to more suicides and self-harm among vulnerable vets.
"If we all care so deeply about what is clearly an epidemic among veterans of death by suicide with a firearm, why would we pursue a bill that addresses no clearly defined problem?" asked Rep. Mark Takano (D-California). "The clear result of which would be the removal of a safeguard that puts more guns in the hands of the most vulnerable beneficiaries the VA has,"
Ron Burke, the Deputy Under Secretary for Oversight and Policy at VA, said the department opposes the bill.
"We do believe that taking firearms away -- not [by] us but the system -- does protect our veterans. Preventing veteran suicide is the number one clinical focus for VA. We believe the process works," he said.
Veterans in need of emergency counseling can reach the Veterans Crisis line by dialing 988 or they can VeteransCrisisLine.net for assistance.