For 30 years, the Department of Veterans Affairs had stripped Veterans’ Second Amendment rights without hearings or adequate determinations that they posed a sufficient risk of danger to themselves or others.
On February 17th, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced they will no longer report veterans to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI) National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) as “prohibited persons” because they assigned a fiduciary to help manage their finances.
After years of pushback from gun owners and veterans alike, the VA has determined this practice of reporting veterans violates federal law — whereas a decision by a judicial or quasi-judicial body is needed before someone can be reported to NICS.
The National Association for Gun Rights has been fighting to repeal this ludicrous rule for more than 15 years and applauds the reversal of this gun control rule that affected more than 250,000 veterans.
In fact, in 2025, NAGR mobilized its members and supporters to put pressure on Congress to prohibit the VA from using a penny of government funding to add veterans to the NICS list. This rule passed as part of a larger budget package.
In addition to ending the reporting of veterans to NICS, the VA says it is working with the FBI to remove all past VA reporting to NICS, so no veterans are unfairly deprived anymore of their Second Amendment rights based solely on participation in the VA’s Fiduciary Program.
VA Secretary Doug Collins was quoted saying:
“Many Americans struggle with managing their finances, and veterans’ Second Amendment rights shouldn’t be stripped just because they need help in this area. But for too long, Veterans who needed the services of a VA fiduciary were deprived of their right to bear arms. Under the leadership of President Trump, we’re correcting this injustice and ensuring veterans get the same due process and Constitutional rights as all Americans.”
The National Association for Gun Rights posted on X in response to the Department of Veterans Affairs:
“After decades of pressure from NAGR and our members, the VA is ending its unconstitutional practice of reporting veterans to NICS and is working with the FBI to REMOVE past records, restoring 2A rights that should’ve never been taken. We brought this injustice to the Trump administration multiple times, knowing it was something they could fix, and they did. Huge thanks to Secretary Collins, and to NAGR staff and members who never let this die. This is what sustained pressure looks like.”
To read the Department of Veterans Affairs press release on the matter, please click here.
