# Plain Language Summary: Veterans 2nd Amendment Restoration Act of 2025

This bill would change how the Veterans Affairs Department shares information about veterans with the federal government's gun background check system. Currently, when the VA determines that a veteran is mentally incompetent or needs someone else to manage their benefits (called a fiduciary), that information gets sent to the FBI's instant background check system, which can prevent that person from buying firearms. This bill says the VA should tell the Attorney General that sending this information was improper and should stop doing it going forward.

The practical effect is that veterans who have been flagged in the background check system solely because of a VA mental incompetency determination or because they need a fiduciary would likely be removed from that system. This means they could potentially pass background checks and purchase guns, even if the VA had previously determined they couldn't manage their own finances due to mental health issues. The bill essentially says that a VA decision about someone's mental competency or need for financial help should not, by itself, be used to restrict their gun rights.

This affects a significant number of veterans—hundreds of thousands have been added to the background check system over the past few decades based on these VA determinations. Veterans' advocates have argued that many people need fiduciaries for reasons other than danger, such as severe PTSD or traumatic brain injury, and shouldn't automatically lose their Second Amendment rights. However, gun safety advocates worry that removing this restriction could allow some people with serious mental health conditions to access firearms when they might pose a risk to themselves or others.

Veterans 2nd Amendment Restoration Act of 2025

Crane, Elijah

Veterans 2nd Amendment Restoration Act of 2025This bill provides that certain individuals are not prohibited from purchasing, selling, or possessing a firearm or ammunition solely because the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has determined they require a fiduciary or are mentally incompetent (i.e., unable to manage their affairs).&nbsp;Under current law, it is unlawful to sell or otherwise dispose of any firearm or ammunition to any person who has been adjudicated as mentally defective. The bill provides that a person must not be treated as having been adjudicated as mentally defective solely because the VA determined the person requires a fiduciary or is mentally incompetent per its regulations.Within 30 days of the enactment of this bill, the VA must notify the Department of Justice (DOJ) that the VA's transmittals of certain information that was provided solely on the basis that a veteran's benefits are managed by a fiduciary were improper, do not apply, or no longer apply. This applies to VA transmittals to DOJ on or after November 30, 1993, for use by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System for firearm transferees.