Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act

Floor Speech

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Mrs. McBATH. Mr. Speaker, I thank the ranking member for allowing me to share some insight today.

Mr. Speaker, as an American and someone coming from a military family--my father was a dentist in the Army Dental Corps, and I still have three members of my family today who are currently serving in the military forces--I can tell you that our veterans have given so much of themselves to this country.

We owe them our protection. The Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act fails that duty. It does not protect them, and it puts them in danger.

The facts are clear. Veterans are far more likely to die by firearm suicide than the average American. That risk is even higher for veterans assigned a fiduciary when they can no longer manage their own affairs. That is the group that this bill targets. Nearly 100,000 of them would be removed from the background check system with no thought for their safety or the families who love and care for them.

Without red flag laws in most States, and with loosened gun rules and regulations that are flooding our communities, veterans and their families are the ones who are paying the price.

Mr. Speaker, I will tell you what this price looks like.

Ben Miller served his country, coming home not only as a combat vet but as a different man. He was 30 pounds lighter, unable to eat and unable to cope with what he had experienced and seen in war. He was getting help at the VA, but his family could see that he was in crisis. His sister and his father drove from gun store to gun store, showing his photo, begging strangers not to sell him a gun.

However, that wasn't enough. Ben died by suicide. He used a gun that he bought himself at a local store.

There are thousands more stories like Ben's and ones that don't even get talked about in the news. We owe our veterans more than this. It is not about taking away their Second Amendment rights if they are law- abiding gun owners: hunters, gun enthusiasts, and sportsmen. It is not about taking their guns away. It is about making sure that they are protected against harm against themselves or others in their families and their communities.

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Mrs. McBATH. Mr. Speaker, I will vote ``no'' on this egregious bill, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

Mr. Speaker, if you really care about veterans, then do what is right for them. Do what is right for their safety and their protection.

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