A bill by U.S. Sen. Richard Burr would prevent veterans from being declared mentally unfit to own a gun.
Since the Virginia Tech shootings last year, Congress and several states have sought to tighten rules on who can legally buy a gun, but Burr's bill would prevent the federal veterans agency from declaring veterans "mentally defective" on its own.
Instead, judges, magistrates or other judicial authorities would have to do it.
Burr said that some veterans were added to the list not because they were a risk but because the Department of Veterans Affairs assigned them guardians to oversee their finances.
"This is a constitutional issue," he said. The database is for criminals, "not for folks who have trouble handling their own affairs."
The National Rifle Association and several veterans groups back Burr, but gun control-organizations argue that veterans have higher rates of suicide than non-veterans and might be more at risk. (N&O)
