Four Senate Democrats voted for law expanding gun access to those with severe mental illness
The context and what the bill does
The Obama Administration in its closing days instituted a new regulation instituting a novel form of gun control. The rule included those who received Social Security checks for mental illness or for being “unable to handle their own financial affairs” into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System for gun purchases.
The rule was finalized by the Social Security Administration (SSA) on December 19, 2016. Approximately 75,000 people would be affected and potentially barred from purchasing a weapon as a result.
Public Law 115–8 was recently passed by Congress and signed by President Trump to overturn this rule.
What supporters say
Republicans saw this as an unconstitutional infringement on the Second Amendment and power grab by a Democratic administration whose party had just been voted out of office. They called the existing classifications arbitrary. Other groups like the ACLU added that the rule may perpetuate a false stigma since there’s a low correlation between mental illness and improper gun usage.
“The process for designating someone to help a recipient manage Social Security benefits is not objective. The former Social Security Administration Inspector General said the following last year in testimony about the process: ‘It’s not a scientific decision, it’s more of a personal opinion,’” lead Senate sponsor Chuck Grassley (R-IA) noted in floor remarks. “The ‘personal opinion’ of a bureaucrat cannot be the basis for taking away a person’s Second Amendment rights.
Further… the ‘disorder list’ is a convoluted mess of afflictions that may or may not cause someone to be dangerous. Many of the listed disorders also do not impact gun safety at all. For example, some afflictions deal with anxiety disorders, fear of large crowds, or a lack of self-esteem.”
What opponents say
Opponents counter that the SSA’s rule was both necessary for public safety in a nation awash with guns, as well as constitutional under current interpretation of the Second Amendment.
“The Supreme Court recognized in [2008’s] District of Columbia v. Heller ‘that the Second Amendment conferred an individual right to keep and bear arms.’ The Court emphasized, however, that, ‘’[l]ike most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited,’’ and that ‘‘nothing in [the Court’s] opinion should be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill,’” the SSA wrote when announcing their rule. “Our actions… are fully consistent with the Supreme Court’s recognition in Heller of the validity ‘of longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by the mentally ill.’”
Congressional votes
Introduced by Rep. Sam Johnson (R-TX3) as House Joint Resolution 40, the bill attracted 120 cosponsors — all but one a Republican. It passed the House 235–180 a mere three days later after its introduction.
Six Democrats voted in favor, most from major gun-owning states: Sanford Bishop (D-GA2), Henry Cuellar (D-TX28), Ron Kind (D-WI3), Reps. Tom O’Halleran (D-AZ1), Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ9), and Timothy Walz (D-MN1). Two Republicans voted against, both from New York state: Reps. Daniel Donovan (R-NY11) and Pete King (R-NY2).
About two weeks later, the bill passed the Senate 57–43 after attracting 32 cosponsors, all but one a Republican. Four Senate Democrats plus one Democratic-caucusing Independent voted in favor, most from major gun-owning states: Sens. Joe Donnelly (D-IN), Heidi Heitkamp (D-ND), Angus King (I-ME), Joe Manchin (D-WV), and Jon Tester (D-MT). No Senate Republicans voted against.
Enactment
President Trump signed it into law on February 28. The Republicans seem to be trying to keep this relatively quiet. The White House press release on the law’s enactment totalled a mere one sentence on the topic, with no quotation from the president or any justification of the public policy, as such press releases usually include. House lead sponsor Johnson also issued no press release upon the bill’s introduction, House passage, or enactment — an almost unheard-of silence.
The original Obama rule did not require compliance until December 2017 anyway, so the gun control law was never fully in effect.
This article was written by GovTrack Insider staff writer Jesse Rifkin.
