Congress·In Committee·S. 478

Senator Kennedy Proposes Bill to Stop VA from Reporting Veterans to Gun Background Check System

Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act of 2025

about 1 year ago·View on Congress.gov

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Stalled

No legislative action in over 90 days.

Legislative Progress

Senate

House

President

Law

Key Points

This bill would stop the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from automatically sending a veteran's name to the national gun background check system just because they have someone else manage their disability checks.
Right now, if the VA decides a veteran needs help managing their money and appoints a person to handle their benefits, that veteran can be reported to the FBI's background check database, which often prevents them from buying or owning a firearm.
The new rule would require a judge or legal official to first rule that the veteran is actually a danger to themselves or others before their personal information can be shared with the background check system.
The goal of the policy is to ensure that veterans do not lose their Second Amendment rights simply because they need help with their finances, unless a court specifically finds them to be a safety risk.

VeteransGun Policy

Impact Analysis

Personal Impact

Who is affectedScoreImpactCertaintyScopeDurationSentiment

Scores: 1 = low, 5 = highSentiment: -5 to +5 (net benefit)

Milestones

2 milestones3 actions

Mar 11, 2025Senate

Committee on Veterans' Affairs. Hearings held.

Feb 6, 2025Senate

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

Feb 6, 2025

Introduced in Senate

Related News

3 articles

Military Times·about 1 month ago

VA restores gun rights to some disabled veterans

The VA announced it will immediately stop reporting veterans to the FBI's background check database if they need a fiduciary to manage benefits. This reverses a decades-old policy and implements the core goal of the Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act through administrative action.

CL=

Guns.com·about 1 month ago

VA to Restore Gun Rights Arbitrarily Stripped from Some Veterans

VA Secretary Doug Collins announced the reversal of a 30-year policy that marked veterans as prohibited possessors for using a fiduciary. The move restores due process, requiring a judicial finding of danger before a veteran's information is sent to the NICS database.

R+

AZ Free News·27 days ago

Rep. Crane Praises Federal Policy Change Ending VA Firearm Reporting Practice

Representative Eli Crane lauded the administration's decision to stop automatically reporting veterans with fiduciaries to NICS. The article details how this administrative shift aligns with the goals of the 2025 Protection Act and reverses a practice dating back to 1998.

R+