ObamaCare Threatens Gun Owners’ Rights
There are lots of reasons for Americans to hate ObamaCare.
But gun owners should be especially concerned about this “Obamanation,” because it will allow the federal government to use our medical information to keep us from buying guns.
Just ask yourself:
* Was there a death in your family recently causing you to suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?
* Do you take anxiety medications?
* Did you ever say: I had thoughts of suicide when I was dealing with stress at home or work or after my recent breakup?
* Have you voluntarily checked yourself into an institution to get counseling?
If you answered YES to any of those questions, and there is any federal nexus, then you might find yourself disarmed in the near future.
The reason is that, since 2009, the federal health database – created by section 13001 of the stimulus bill and put in place by Obamacare – will allow the federal government to troll private health records for the purpose of stripping gun rights from persons with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), PTSD, and similar maladies.
Already, more than 150,000 military veterans – perhaps as many as 165,000 – have lost their gun rights because of the “see a Veteran Administration shrink, lose your gun rights” precedent from the Clinton-Bush era.
Consider the Florida military veteran who made national news recently because his guns were confiscated, not returned, and he is suing the city of Daytona Beach, FL.
The veteran, identified simply as “A.B.,” sought help for depression in December of 2012. After he called Veteran’s Assistance, here’s what happened:
Instead of having someone counsel him, VA called local police, who came to A.B.’s home [and] had him involuntarily committed for a psychological evaluation. They also confiscated his firearms, ammo, bows, arrows and other objects they felt could be used as weapons.
A.B. was found to be mentally fit during this evaluation, but authorities still have refused to return his firearms despite AB completing all needed paperwork and affidavits. Now, authorities are saying they won’t return his guns without a court order. This is obviously against the law and the source of the lawsuit.
Sadly, what happened to military veterans has now begun in the private sector – especially in places like New York, where they recently passed their misnamed SAFE Act.
According to gun rights reporter Dan Roberts, firearms are now being confiscated from gun owners because of their mental health information. For example:
John Doe, an upstanding professional with no outstanding criminal convictions and no history of violent action, received a letter from the Pistol Permit Department informing him that his license was immediately revoked upon information that he was seeing a therapist for anxiety and had been prescribed an anxiety drug. He was never suicidal, never violent, and has no criminal history.
So, taking anxiety pills can result in people forfeiting their Second Amendment rights in New York. Obamacare will only expand this dragnet to millions more Americans, especially given that the CDC has “determined” that nearly 50% of American adults will develop a mental illness during their lifetimes.
Obamacare “is the greatest collection of private identification information ever assembled on Americans that will be put into one place,” said Rep. Patrick Meehan (R-PA). Not only that, he said, this process creates a “honey pot” where hackers can get that information on Americans.
Well, what happens if the “hackers” work in various federal agencies? That’s the problem. Federal agencies such as the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE) will be able to use this centralized data base to deny gun owners the ability to own or purchase firearms.
This all started under President Bill Clinton, when the Veterans Administration handed over information on veterans with PTSD and other maladies to the FBI.
It resulted in tens of thousands of veterans immediately losing their gun rights. And that’s exactly what you’ll see once doctors and psychiatrists start putting medical information on millions of Americans into the centralized database.
The only difference is that what has been done to our military veterans – by the hundreds of thousands – can now be done to the American people by the millions.
Americans need to let their voices be heard. Please let your Representative and Senators know that you want Obamacare defunded and repealed!
Erich Pratt is the Director of Communications for Gun Owners of America.
This article was originally published on the Tea Party Unity website
Sources
Statement by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WVa.) on April 15 and 17, 2013, in The Congressional Record. See also Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK) letter to Gordon H. Mansfield, Acting Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, (Oct. 16, 2007) at: http://www.gunowners.org/pdf/Coburnletter.pdf.
A press release describing the veteran “A.B.’s” ordeal with the VA can be found at: http://www.floridacarry.org/index.php/flcinews/81-florida-carry-sues-the-city-of-daytona-beach-its-mayor-and-pol. The legal brief related to this case can be found at: http://www.allnineyards.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Complaint_A.B_and_FL_Carry_v_Daytona.pdf.
Dan Roberts, “NY Gun Confiscation Underway – Citizens Told to Turn in Pistol Owner ID & Firearms,” AmmoLand (April 8, 2013), at http://tinyurl.com/n4pxgdf.
“CDC: ‘Nearly 50% of U.S. Adults Will Develop at Least One Mental Illness,’” CNS News (June 13, 2013) at: http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/cdc-nearly-50-us-adults-will-develop-least-one-mental-illness.
Paul Bedard, “Obamacare data hub a ‘honey pot’ for ID thieves, warn critics,” Washington Examiner (July 22, 2013) at: http://washingtonexaminer.com/obamacare-data-hub-a-honey-pot-for-id-thieves-warn-critics/article/2533323.