Inverse Couple Images/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) Hours before a suspect, a U.S. Army reservist with mental health concerns, fatally shot 18 people in Lewiston, Maine Wednesday, the Senate approved an amendment that would scale back background check requirements for some veterans and service members with mental health issues.
The amendment was authored by Republican Sens. John Kennedy and Jerry Moran, who had concerns that veterans could lose gun rights. It prohibits the Department of Veterans Affairs from reporting certain veterans to the National Criminal Background Check system when their finances are being managed by a conservator at the VA.
According to Kennedy, under current law, if the Department of Veterans Affairs steps in to help manage a veteran s financial benefits in a conservatorship, the VA is required to report that veteran to the criminal background check system.
The Kennedy amendment, which passed by a vote of 53-45, prohibits the secretary from transmitting the inf
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Inverse Couple Images/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) Hours before a suspect, a U.S. Army reservist with mental health concerns, fatally shot 18 people in Lewiston, Maine Wednesday, the Senate approved an amendment that would scale back background check requirements for some veterans and service members with mental health issues.
The amendment was authored by Republican Sens. John Kennedy and Jerry Moran, who had concerns that veterans could lose gun rights. It prohibits the Department of Veterans Affairs from reporting certain veterans to the National Criminal Background Check system when their finances are being managed by a conservator at the VA.
According to Kennedy, under current law, if the Department of Veterans Affairs steps in to help manage a veteran s financial benefits in a conservatorship, the VA is required to report that veteran to the criminal background check system.
The Kennedy amendment, which passed by a vote of 53-45, prohibits the secretary from transmitting the inf