In President Obama's latest push for tighter gun control, millions of Social Security beneficiaries could soon be banned from owning guns if the government determines they are unable to manage their own affairs.
As many as 4.2 million recipients who rely on a "representative payee" to handle their affairs stand to have their Second Amendment rights stripped, reported the LA Times.
The move is part of President Obama's effort to strengthen gun control following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newton, Conn., in 2012. The plan would bring the Social Security Administration in line with laws that prevent gun sales to felons, drug addicts and illegal immigrants. If enacted, the Social Security Administration would use the same National Instant Criminal Background Check System that the Veterans Affairs agency uses to report recipients to the federal government if deemed incompetent.
While more than one million Social Security recipients are reportedly permitted to own a hunting rifle or carry a concealed weapon, some who participate in the social program are already barred from owning guns because of mental illness, according to the Inquisitr. Federal gun laws restrict Second Amendment rights of those who suffer from "marked subnormal intelligence, or mental illness, incompetency, condition, or disease."
The plan would amount to the largest gun grab in American history. Critics say it would take place without any due process protections and essentially represent a nullification of Second Amendment rights, according to The Daily Caller.
Further, some contend that just because a senior citizen prefers to have an adult child handle their banking and estate business doesn't mean that their right to bear arms should be taken away.
The administration argues the ban would keep guns out of the hands of some dangerous people, but as Fox News puts it, the majority of people who would be affected "simply have a bad memory or have a hard time balancing a checkbook."
Marc Rosen, a Yale psychiatrist who has studied how veterans with mental health issues manage their money, told the LA Times that "someone can be incapable of managing their funds but not be dangerous, violent or unsafe." "They are very different determinations," he said.
