Senate Curbs Veteran Background Checks. Hours Later A Killing Spree In Maine

Yes, the headline is accurate. Yesterday as part of one of three bills the Senate is working on (to fund the government) an amendment was added. It was a proposal GOP Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana introduced this past summer. Kennedy didn’t like that Veterans who receive VA services that include Conservatorship over their finances had their information forwarded to NCIC which would flag them if a routine background check was conducted when they bought a firearm. According to ABC:

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.

As noted, Kennedy feels that someone in a financial conservatorship, at least if they’re a Veteran should have their gun rights restricted:

The Kennedy amendment, which passed by a vote of 53-45, prohibits the secretary from transmitting the information to the criminal background check system unless “a relevant judicial authority rules that the beneficiary is a danger to himself or others.”

That vote total means at least some Democrats went along with this. However I want to unpack that last part of the blocked quote. I have questions as to what would satisfy Kennedy as a “relevant judicial authority”, not to mention who defines whether someone is a danger to themselves or others. And of course what IS that standard? I’d be willing to bet Kennedy (and anyone who voted for this) don’t want to be in the same zip code of a reporter with a TV camera right now. I know if I were a journalist those would be the types of questions I’D be asking.

In case you aren’t aware of all the details about mass-murderer Boston.com fills in some (not all) of the blanks, including the fact Robert Card is a Veteran and in a Reserve unit. The article points out an AP report that cited a “police bulletin” describing Card as a firearms instructor at a training facility and possibly in the Reserves. It goes on to note that according to the Army Card is in fact with the Reserves as a Petroleum Supply Specialist.

So yes, he’s a Veteran. And an active Reservist. I didn’t get a chance to do a deep dive on his active duty time (he apparently enlisted in 2002) as a couple of articles I clicked on were behind paywalls. However I’m comfortable that what I’ve provided proves he’s a Veteran, one of those people who Sen. Kennedy was so worried might have his gun rights restricted. Again, while I don’t know about his active duty time, and despite Card’s not being in a combat arms role in his Reserve Unit he clearly is comfortable with serious weapons.

Some of the talking heads I respect who know about these things said on MSNBC during the day he moved like someone who was well-trained. And also details about his assault rifle (that scope in particular) and his cargo pants which to my eye were full – almost certainly with fresh magazines to keep up his rate of fire. Whether his comfort level and skill with his assault weapon is from his military service or he is indeed a firearms instructor there are also reports people that live near his home hear shooting every day from there, and find it both a bit annoying and a bit scary.

For all that, I haven’t gotten to the part that tells you why Kennedy (and others) will be avoiding cameras like a vampire avoids sunlight:

He had also enlisted in the Army back in 2002, and a post on his now suspended Facebook profile said he had recently finished a two-decades-long career in the Army.

The document said Card was sent to a mental health facility over the summer for two weeks after he said he was “hearing voices and threats to shoot up” the military base. A military official also told the Associated Press that commanders in the Army Reserve’s 3rd Battalion, 304th Infantry Regiment called police in mid-July when Card was “acting erratically” during training at U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York.

Yes, he was hospitalized for evaluation after police were called. As for how he was able to have any firearm much less an assault weapon Maine is a state where gun restrictions aren’t exactly seen as a good thing. I have a feeling that might change soon. Of course, we’ve thought that before and nothing or next to nothing has changed. Again however, since there’s ample reporting that Card was known to have mental health issues questions are being raised about why Maine’s “Yellow Flag” law wasn’t utilized. That’s good, but DC journalist should be in hot pursuit of Kennedy (and others) to ask him about this.

Now, to be fair not every Veterans who runs into money trouble is mentally ill, or so messed up they are dangerous to themselves or others. However, placing someone in a formal Conservatorship indicates there are serious issues.  For the record, I’m a Veteran and after transferring to NC for my job wound up on disability and got forced into early retirement. Despite the 10k per year raise I didn’t go hog wild spending money when I moved down here, but the quite significant loss in income and inability (a combination of being in my late fifties and winding up needing a cane for balance) meant despite all the effort I couldn’t land another job, even one for less money. Stuck in a lease I saw my savings (I was in social services and not well off but had money in the bank) steadily drop, and without a job couldn’t rent a new and cheaper place to live.

I wound up being homeless. Instead of the larger and fuller life (compared to back in WV) I’d anticipated my life became small as did my bank account and I wound up homeless for a while. I had to adjust and had a great psychiatrist and then a counselor help me through that time. With help I found a place to live and get by. I never considered harming myself or going nuts on the Manager at my former workplace who tried to look like a hero to the state’s big boss at my expense. I should have put my foot down long before I did instead of working those insane hours that wrecked my diabetes management and my health. In the end it was my own damned fault and I accepted that.

I told you all that to point out that although I readily sought and utilized VA Mental Health Care, I would have been one of those people Kennedy claims to have been so worried about. However, since I knew I wouldn’t be able to head an hour north and into the woods where I used to hunt (a long story but my divorce was civilized and I’d have been welcome) for a time I might not have been able to buy a rifle – if I’d had the money for one! I wouldn’t have gone bitching to some elected official about it though.

Also, despite a period of as severe depression as I’ve experienced in my life I was never hospitalized for mental health reasons like Robert Card was.

My point in getting into my own personal stuff is that sometimes yes, a Veteran can run into big financial trouble but not be mentally ill, at least in a way or to a degree that would require hospitalization. However, I again note this guy was in a financial Conservatorship. It was determined he needed help managing his money. What that tells me is he needed more than a bit of financial advice/counseling. That in turn indicates to me he wasn’t making rational decisions about basic stuff.

So from where I sit being placed in a financial Conservatorship means the VA felt he couldn’t properly take care of himself. Sounds to me like someone who should have a houseful of guns. Or even one.

Anyway, the timing on all this sure isn’t a good look for pretenders of being protective of Veterans but are really against any and all forms of gun control. Kennedy saw a chance to score points with his gun goober constituents in a red state. That is ALL he cared about.  It’s all virtually every conservative cares about. Hiding behind “Veteran’s Rights” is despicable. But Kennedy and others did to please the “You gub-mint types ain’t takin away my GUNS!” voters. And hours later, look what happened.