It appears that anti-gun activists are now attempting to push through legislation that could put at risk the rights of senior citizens who exercise their constitutional, 2nd amendment right to bear arms. While Congress had voted in 2017 to repeal an Obama era SSI gun ban, it appears that this issue is again rearing its head. But this time it will encompass a broader range of senior reporting services including Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, CHIP, and other ObamaCare subsidies, putting seniors at risk once again for being placed on a list that restricts the right to own and operate a firearm.

The Cornyn-Schumer-Feinstein-Blumenthal-Murphy Legislation S. 2135

The “Fix NICS” bill included in the above legislation claims to be legislation that require more stringent reporting of individuals who may be deemed not appropriate to be gun owners. The new bill pushes states and agencies to implement mandatory compliance in reporting any person who meets certain criteria. Once in the system, then a “lawful authority” could deem you danger or unfit to exercise your second amendment right to gun ownership.

What Could This New Legislation Mean for Seniors?

If the NICS fix is allowed to go through all of the major reporting agencies that contain information and records on senior citizens such as social security, Medicare, disability, and other aid programs would be imported into the database which would judge whether or not they could be eligible for firearm possession.

While the bill is said to target those who could be a danger when owning a firearm, the language is vague and includes regulations that could limit gun ownership for those with several types of commonly listed mental illness even those that don’t manifest in violent or suicidal behavior. Seniors who face such issues as ADHD, PTSD and any other number of limitations that can be more prevalent in the elderly, could prevent them from owning a gun even for simple home protection. Even those who are appointed a guardian could be deemed incapable of managing a firearm.

Senior citizens are already a more victimized population, and many find comfort in self-defense firearms such as home defense pistols to protect them in the event of a home invasion or any other victimization. This legislation in effect could reduce a senior’s right to self-protection based on issues that can be common during aging such as depressive disorders and stress conditions.

Will History Repeat Itself?

While previous legislation to limit the rights of gun ownership in our country’s aging population under the Obama era was reversed by Congress, anti-gun activists have shown success in the past by using vague and generalized terminology to describe gun owners that limit their rights. This was most recently shown in the 2007 NICS Improvement Act which has commonly been referred to as the Veterans Disarmament Act. The act disarmed more than 257,000 veterans who had served their country.

The hundreds of thousands of veterans were classified as “mentally defective,” reported to the NICS, and stripped of their rights to gun ownership in legislation that claimed it was not targeting veterans and was said to be legislation to keep guns away from mentally unstable criminals who had violent tendencies. The legislation was used to deny gun ownership rights of veterans and other senior citizens based on mental histories that often did not include a violent history or suspected violent intentions.

So will the new legislation that is also being touted as enforcing background checks and database updates really be part of an attempt to disarm a large portion of our senior population?

Are Citizens Aware of What the New Legislation Could Really Mean?

Many citizens are not even aware that current legislation is causing many law-abiding citizens to be denied their constitutional rights over something as simple as traffic fines and tickets under the new federal firearms code and many politicians use the guise of public safety to propose legislation that seems to be slowly stripping the law abiding citizens in this country of their 2nd amendment right to bear arms.

First with veterans and now seniors being targeted, it stands to reason that as long as the citizens are convinced that the new gun legislation is to prevent gun tragedies and accidents there may be a new group targeted next—and this time it could be you.