Thread: WND EXCLUSIVE: OBAMA THREATENING VETERANS' GUN RIGHTS - With WND Poll

Obama threatens veterans' gun rights

The Obama administration has launched into a campaign that threatens the Second Amendment rights of American military veterans.

You won't believe the "warning" letters the vets are receiving from the feds.

WND EXCLUSIVE

OBAMA THREATENING VETERANS' GUN RIGHTS

Feds send letters to warn those deemed 'incompetent' on firearms

Published: 9 hours ago
by BOB UNRUH

In an apparent threat to Second Amendment rights, some American military veterans have received a letter from the Veterans Administration warning that their competency to handle their own affairs is under review, and if determined by government bureaucrats to be “incompetent,” they would be barred from possessing weapons.

The issue is being raised by the United States Justice Foundation, which defends civil and religious rights.

In a statement on the organization’s website, Executive Director Michael Connelly said his organization is pursuing a Freedom of Information Act demand to the Department of Veterans Affairs to “force them to disclose the criteria they are using to place veterans on the background check list that keeps them from exercising their Second Amendment rights.”

“Then we will take whatever legal steps are necessary to protect our American warriors,” he wrote.

He said he’s been approached by a significant number of veterans who have received letters from the VA.

An image of a letter dated Dec. 20, 2012, has been posted online at Red Flag News.

The letter states that the Department of Veterans Affairs has “received” information about the veteran that “because of your disabilities you may need help in handling your Department of Affairs (VA) benefits.”

However, it provides no details other that the information was “a report from Portland VA Medical Center.”

“The evidence indicates that you are not able to handle your VA benefit payments because of a physical or mental condition,” the letter warns. “We propose to rate you incompetent for VA purposes. This means we must decide if you are able to handle your VA benefit payments. We will base our decision on all the evidence we already have including any other evidence you sent to us.”

Completion of the incompetency determination means that a “fiduciary” would be appointed to manage the veteran’s payments.

The VA also warns: “A determination of incompetency will prohibit you from purchasing, possessing, receiving, or transporting a firearm or ammunition. If you knowingly violate any of these prohibitions, you may be fined, imprisoned, or both.”

The letter then offers the veteran an opportunity to “request a personal hearing within 30 days from the date at the top of this letter to present evidence or argument on any important point in your claim.”
But it says the VA will not pay some of the expenses of the hearing.

“If we don’t hear from you within the next 60 days, we will assume you have no additional evidence and do not want a hearing. After those 60 days we will make our decision using the evidence we already have and tell you our decision.”

The letter is signed by K. Kalama, Veterans Service Center manager in the Oregon Department of Veterans Affairs.

The letter, Connelly wrote, sounds “like something right from a documentary on a tyrannical dictatorship somewhere in the world.”

“Yet, as I write this I have a copy of such a letter right in front of me,” he said. ‘It is being sent by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to hundreds, perhaps thousands, of America’s heroes.”

Connelly noted the letter “provides no specifics on the reasons for the proposed finding of incompetency; just that is based on a determination by someone in the VA.”

“In every state in the United States no one can be declared incompetent to administer their own affairs without due process of law and that usually requires a judicial hearing with evidence being offered to prove to a judge that the person is indeed incompetent,” he explained.

“This is a requirement of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that states that no person shall ‘be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.’

“Obviously, the Department of Veterans Affairs can’t be bothered by such impediments as the Constitution, particularly since they are clearly pushing to fulfill one of Obama’s main goals, the disarming of the American people. Janet Napolitano has already warned law enforcement that some of the most dangerous among us are America’s heroes, our veterans, and now according to this letter from the VA they can be prohibited from buying or even possessing a firearm because of a physical or mental disability,” Connelly wrote.

Officials with the Department of Veterans Affairs did not respond to a WND request for comment.

Connelly argued there “are no clear criteria for the VA to declare a veteran incompetent.”

“It can be the loss of a limb in combat, a head injury, a diagnosis of PTSD, or even a soldier just telling someone at the VA that he or she is depressed over the loss of a buddy in combat. In none of these situations has the person been found to be a danger to themselves or others. If that was the case than all of the Americans who have suffered from PTSD following the loss of a loved one or from being in a car accident would also have to be disqualified from owning firearms. It would also mean that everyone who has ever been depressed for any reason should be disarmed. In fact, many of the veterans being deprived of their rights have no idea why it is happening,” Connelly said.

He said the issue raises another huge question.

“We have to ask who will be next. If you are receiving a Social Security check will you get one of these letters? Will the government declare that you are incompetent because of your age and therefore banned from firearm ownership. It certainly fits in with the philosophy and plans of the Obama administration,” he wrote.

WND previously reported on the issue of PTSD and veterans. It was after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals excoriated the Department of Veterans Affairs for its “unchecked incompetence” in dealing with a flood of PTSD, depression and similar conditions, taking an average of four years to provide veterans their mental health benefits, and often taking weeks to get a suicidal vet his first appointment.

Read the letter:






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WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT GOVERNMENT TARGETING GUN RIGHTS OF VETERANS?

• With the epidemic of PTSD and trauma, that's maybe the worst group to be armed
  
• I agree with the DHS advisory that returning veterans could be potential terrorists
  
• Military-trained civilians represent a danger to national security
  
• It's fine with me. Nobody should be armed, except police
  
• There's no one more qualified than the government to decide who's crazy
  
• If a person is truly mentally ill, veteran or not, he shouldn't be armed
  
• The problem comes when the government decides who's crazy
  
• The nation's liberty would be safer if all veterans retained their arms after leaving the military
  
• No one is more qualified to bear arms than a veteran
  
• The government is laying the strands of gun confiscation one piece at a time
  
• This policy illustrates opposition to firearms is about establishing tyranny
  
• If the government is so concerned about denying guns to 'crazy' people, why not take Joe Biden's shotgun away?
  
• Other

View Results

Read more at Obama threatening veterans’ gun rights

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT GOVERNMENT TARGETING GUN RIGHTS OF VETERANS?

• The government is laying the strands of gun confiscation one piece at a time (32%, 29 Votes)
  
• This policy illustrates opposition to firearms is about establishing tyranny (20%, 18 Votes)
  
• If the government is so concerned about denying guns to 'crazy' people, why not take Joe Biden's shotgun away? (17%, 15 Votes)
  
• The problem comes when the government decides who's crazy (11%, 10 Votes)
  
• The nation's liberty would be safer if all veterans retained their arms after leaving the military (11%, 10 Votes)
  
• No one is more qualified to bear arms than a veteran (9%, 8 Votes)
  
• With the epidemic of PTSD and trauma, that's maybe the worst group to be armed (0%, 0 Votes)
  
• If a person is truly mentally ill, veteran or not, he shouldn't be armed (0%, 0 Votes)
  
• There's no one more qualified than the government to decide who's crazy (0%, 0 Votes)
  
• It's fine with me. Nobody should be armed, except police (0%, 0 Votes)
  
• Military-trained civilians represent a danger to national security (0%, 0 Votes)
  
• I agree with the DHS advisory that returning veterans could be potential terrorists (0%, 0 Votes)
  
• Other (0%, 0 Votes)

Total Voters: 90

Vote

Read more at Obama threatening veterans’ gun rights

99% WON'T catch the part about this affecting ALL Social Security recipients, at the Whim of Barack Obama!

If true, the apparent threat to review and deprive veterans of their normal rights is almost unbelieavable. Imagine appointing a fiduciary to look after one's affairs without a court hearing, and the implication that one was not trustworthy ..

FedGov Declares: A Determination of Incompetency Will Prohibit You From Owning Firearms or Ammunition

Mac Slavo
February 22nd, 2013
SHTFplan.com
Comments (427)
Read by 11,342 people

In a prelude of what’s likely to become the norm as government sponsored healthcare is implemented across the country, nameless bureaucrats in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs have begun issuing warning letters to veterans which claim that service members who are deemed by the agency to be incompetent or mentally ill will be required to surrender their rights as protected under the Second Amendment.

In a letter highlighting the government’s continued encroachment on the liberties of Americans, the V.A. claims that they, and only they, have final say-so on whether or not a veteran member of the US military is authorized to own guns or ammunition.

How would you feel if you received a letter from the U.S. Government informing you that because of a physical or mental condition that the government says you have it is proposing to rule that you are incompetent to handle your own financial affairs? Suppose that letter also stated that the government is going to appoint a stranger to handle your affairs for you at your expense? That would certainly be scary enough but it gets worse.

What if that letter also stated: “A determination of incompetency will prohibit you from purchasing, possessing, receiving, or transporting a firearm or ammunition. If you knowingly violate any of these prohibitions, you may be fined, imprisoned, or both pursuant to the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, Pub.L.No. 103-159, as implemented at 18, United States Code 924(a)(2).”?
That makes is sound like something right from a documentary on a tyrannical dictatorship somewhere in the world.

Yet, as I write this I have a copy of such a letter right in front of me.

It is being sent by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to hundreds, perhaps thousands, of America’s heroes. In my capacity as Executive Director of the United States Justice Foundation (USJF) I have been contacted by some of these veterans and the stories I am getting are appalling.

The letter provides no specifics on the reasons for the proposed finding of incompetency; just that is based on a determination by someone in the VA.
In every state in the United States no one can be declared incompetent to administer their own affairs without due process of law and that usually requires a judicial hearing with evidence being offered to prove to a judge that the person is indeed incompetent. This is a requirement of the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that states that no person shall “… be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law…”.

Source: Michael Connelly, J.D. of United States Justice Foundation​ via Red Flag News and Steve Quayle

The letters have been made available for public viewing.

Kurt Nimmo of Infowars.com notes that the letters are not the exception, but rather, are likely part of a new strategy designed to disarm Americans by whatever means necessary, suggesting that the letters from the V.A. are but a stepping stone to further restrictive actions soon to be implemented by the Obama Administration and DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano:

It’s no secret that the Department of Homeland Security considers returning veterans a threat to the established order.

They said as much back in 2009 when they wrote in a report exposed by Alex Jones and the alternative media: “Returning veterans possess combat skills and experience that are attractive to right-wing extremists… DHS/I&A is concerned that right-wing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize veterans in order to boost their violent capacities.”

Following the case of veteran Brandon Raub, who was abducted and held in a psychiatric ward for Facebook posts the government considered subversive, police in Ohio seized a veteran’s guns after he was adjudged to be mentally incompetent despite the fact a Veterans Administration psychiatric evaluation determined he was not mentally ill.

“Since the veteran is active in the so-called truth movement or patriot community, it is assumed that his involvement in this field is part of the reason why he has been targeted for psychiatric evaluation,” Paul Joseph Watson wrote on August 24, 2012.

With the recent publication of the American Psychiatric Association’s new Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), just about every American could potentially be diagnosed with a mental health condition that includes anything from attention deficits and depression, to everyday emotional responses like nervous tension or stress.

Suffice it to say that, under the DSM-5, anyone who visits a psychiatrist, psychologist or even their family doctor, could be deemed incompetent or mentally unfit to own a firearm should their government sponsored healthcare provider make that determination.

America’s veterans are an easy target because they generally have an affinity for and an understanding of firearms, have been in war zones or high stress environments, and many are dependent on government sponsored health care programs.

But vets won’t be the last to be targeted for disarmament on medical grounds. With the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as Obamacare, tens of millions of Americans will soon fall under government jurisdiction and diagnosis.

Legislators in Washington D.C., as well as on the state level, have already introduced laws which aims to require mental health screening for gun owners, something the federal government would like to see instituted on a nationwide basis.

The ramifications of such legislation, which supporters of gun control and firearms registration say will keep dangerous weapons out of the hands of the mentally ill, will likewise have the effect of targeting innocent Americans who may simply be dealing with everyday stress or a naturally common level of mood fluctuations.

Imagine visiting your doctor and being asked if you’re experiencing stress because of your busy lifestyle or anxiety from a heavy work load. Answering “yes,” or “sometimes” to such questioning could soon be grounds for deeming you mentally incompetent. The next thing you know, a SWAT team will be kicking in your door (because you know they won’t knock nicely) looking for your firearms.

This is what’s coming next should the V.A. be allowed to disarm veterans without due process and public oversight.

FedGov Declares: A Determination of Incompetency Will Prohibit You From Owning Firearms or Ammunition