{ "id": "R44752", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R44752", "active": true, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 586622, "date": "2017-04-19", "retrieved": "2020-01-02T14:37:47.398383", "title": "Gun Control, Mental Incompetency, and Social Security Administration Final Rule", "summary": "On February 2, 2017, the House of Representatives passed a Congressional Review Act disapproval resolution (H.J.Res. 40) to overturn a final rule promulgated by the Social Security Administration (SSA) regarding implementation of firearms restrictions for certain persons. On February 16, 2017, the Senate passed H.J.Res. 40 without any amendments. On February 28, 2017, President Donald Trump signed this resolution into law (P.L. 115-8). This enacted joint resolution vacates the SSA final rule. It also bars the SSA from promulgating any future rule that would be \u201csubstantially the same\u201d as the vacated rule unless the agency receives a new statutory authorization to do so.\nThe vacated SSA final rule was intended to implement provisions of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 (NIAA; P.L. 110-180) on reporting requirements for any federal agency holding records on persons prohibited from possessing firearms. NIAA mandates that agencies must share those records with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for inclusion in a computer index accessible to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). As described in this report, some of these prohibiting records are based upon findings of \u201cmental incompetency\u201d made during certain federal benefit claims processes administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) since 1998 and to be administered by the SSA beginning in December 2017. \nActivated by the FBI, NICS is a national computer network that allows federally licensed gun dealers to initiate a background check through either the FBI or a state or local authority, before transferring a firearm to an unlicensed, private person. Under federal law, persons who are \u201cadjudicated as a mental defective\u201d are ineligible to ship, transport, receive, or possess firearms or ammunition. In 1998, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives promulgated a rule that defined this term to include any individual that a court, board, commission, or other lawful authority has made a determination that\u2014as a result of marked subnormal intelligence, mental illness, incompetency, condition or disease\u2014he or she is a person who \nis a danger to himself or others;\nlacks the mental capacity to contract or manage his or her own affairs;\nis found insane by a court in a criminal case; or\nis found incompetent to stand trial, or not guilty by reason of lack of moral responsibility.\nSince 1998, the Department of Veterans Affairs has referred the name of any beneficiary determined to be incompetent\u2014because he or she lacks the mental capacity to contract or manage his or her own affairs due to injury or disease\u2014to the FBI for inclusion in the NICS index pursuant to the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, 1993 (Brady Act; P.L. 103-159). Under NIAA, since 2007, the VA must inform any benefits claimant that such determinations could lead to a loss of his or her firearms rights and privileges. But, NIAA also requires any federal authority that provides prohibiting mental health records to the FBI for inclusion in the NICS index to establish an administrative process, by which mentally incompetent, prohibited beneficiaries may petition to have those rights and privileges restored.\nPursuant to both the Brady Act and NIAA, the SSA final rule specified conditions under which individuals would have been reported for inclusion in the NICS index as Social Security or SSI disability beneficiaries who would have been deemed too mentally incompetent to be trusted with firearms or ammunition. The rule also outlined SSA\u2019s process for notifying affected individuals as well as an administrative appeals process under which such individuals may request relief from the federal firearms prohibitions. The vacated rule was to have become effective on January 18, 2017; however, compliance would not have been required until December 19, 2017. \nSince the release of this report, the House has passed a bill (H.R. 1181) that would clarify the conditions under which veterans and survivors who are beneficiaries of programs administered by the VA may be treated as \u201cadjudicated as a mental defective.\u201d For further information, see CRS Report R44818, Gun Control, Veterans Benefits, and Mental Incompetency Determinations.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/R44752", "sha1": "aa1cc52da50d5331466e84afaca1c46e8b85ef4e", "filename": "files/20170419_R44752_aa1cc52da50d5331466e84afaca1c46e8b85ef4e.html", "images": {} }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "https://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R44752", "sha1": "ebe9d54f873db81dbbe9d9f93852fa9d6d3fb848", "filename": "files/20170419_R44752_ebe9d54f873db81dbbe9d9f93852fa9d6d3fb848.pdf", "images": {} } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4851, "name": "Firearms Regulation" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 458955, "date": "2017-02-13", "retrieved": "2017-02-15T21:39:55.983717", "title": "Gun Control, Mental Incompetency, and Social Security Administration Final Rule", "summary": "On February 2, 2017, the House of Representatives passed a Congressional Review Act disapproval resolution (H.J.Res. 40) to overturn a final rule promulgated by the Social Security Administration (SSA) regarding implementation of firearms restrictions for certain persons. The SSA final rule is to implement provisions of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 (NIAA; P.L. 110-180) on reporting requirements for any federal agency holding records on persons prohibited from possessing firearms. NIAA mandates that agencies must share those records with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for inclusion in a computer index accessible to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). As described in this report, some of these prohibiting records are based upon findings of \u201cmental incompetency\u201d made during certain federal benefits claims processes administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) since 1998 and the SSA beginning in December 2017.\nIf enacted, the disapproval joint resolution would not allow the SSA final rule to take effect. The joint resolution would also bar the SSA from promulgating any rule in the future that would be \u201csubstantially the same\u201d as the disapproved rule unless the agency received a new statutory authorization to do so. On January 30, 2017, Senator Charles Grassley introduced a similar disapproval resolution (S.J.Res. 14). The matter awaits Senate consideration.\nActivated by the FBI, NICS is a national computer network that allows federally licensed gun dealers to initiate a background check through either the FBI or a state or local authority, before transferring a firearm to an unlicensed, private person. Under federal law, persons who are \u201cadjudicated as a mental defective\u201d are ineligible to ship, transport, receive, or possess firearms or ammunition. In 1998, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives promulgated a rule that defined this term to include any individual that a court, board, commission, or other lawful authority has made a determination that\u2014as a result of marked subnormal intelligence, mental illness, incompetency, condition or disease\u2014he or she is a person who:\nis a danger to himself or others;\nlacks the mental capacity to contract or manage his affairs;\nis found insane by a court in a criminal case; or\nis found incompetent to stand trial, or not guilty by reason of lack of moral responsibility.\nSince 1998, the Department of Veterans Affairs has referred the name of any beneficiary determined to be incompetent\u2014because he or she lacks the mental capacity to contract or manage their own affairs due to injury or disease\u2014to the FBI for inclusion in the NICS index pursuant to the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, 1993 (Brady Act; P.L. 103-159). Under NIAA, since 2007, the VA must inform any benefits claimant that such determinations could lead to a loss of his or her firearms rights and privileges. But, NIAA also requires any federal authority that provides prohibiting mental health records to the FBI for inclusion in the NICS index to establish an administrative process, by which prohibited beneficiaries may petition to have those rights and privileges restored.\nPursuant to both the Brady Act and NIAA, the SSA final rule specifies the conditions under which individuals are to be reported for inclusion in the NICS index as Social Security or SSI disability beneficiaries who are too mentally incompetent to be trusted with firearms or ammunition. The rule also outlines SSA\u2019s process for notifying affected individuals as well as an administrative appeals process under which such individuals may request relief from the federal firearms prohibitions. The final rule became effective on January 18, 2017; however, compliance is not required until December 19, 2017.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R44752", "sha1": "9ee4693d600a31a2d5ba5c03077111c4ffac2fd7", "filename": "files/20170213_R44752_9ee4693d600a31a2d5ba5c03077111c4ffac2fd7.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R44752", "sha1": "8f9cdb59757435def4acc645f4b14e2498804424", "filename": "files/20170213_R44752_8f9cdb59757435def4acc645f4b14e2498804424.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4851, "name": "Firearms Regulation" } ] }, { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 458700, "date": "2017-02-02", "retrieved": "2017-02-10T18:24:14.709005", "title": "Gun Control, Mental Incompetency, and Social Security Administration Final Rule", "summary": "The House of Representatives has scheduled floor consideration of a Congressional Review Act disapproval resolution (H.J.Res. 40) to overturn a final rule promulgated by the Social Security Administration (SSA) regarding implementation of firearms restrictions for certain persons. The rule implements provisions of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 (NIAA) on reporting requirements for any federal agency holding records on persons prohibited from possessing firearms. NIAA mandates that agencies must share those records with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for inclusion in a computer index accessible to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). As described below, some of these prohibiting records are based upon findings of \u201cmental incompetency\u201d made during certain federal benefits claims processes administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) since 1998 and the SSA beginning in December 2017.\nActivated by the FBI, NICS is a national computer network that allows federally licensed gun dealers to initiate a background check through either the FBI or a state or local authority, before transferring a firearm to an unlicensed, private person. Under federal law, persons who are \u201cadjudicated as a mental defective\u201d are ineligible to ship, transport, receive, or possess firearms or ammunition. In 1998, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives promulgated a rule that defined this term to include any individual that a court board, commission, or other lawful authority has made a determination that\u2014as a result of marked subnormal intelligence, mental illness, incompetency, condition or disease\u2014he or she is a person who:\nis a danger to himself or others;\nlacks the mental capacity to contract or manage his affairs;\nis found insane by a court in a criminal case; or\nis found incompetent to stand trial, or not guilty by reason of lack of moral responsibility.\nSince 1998, the Department of Veterans Affairs has referred the name of any beneficiary determined to be incompetent\u2014because he or she lacks the mental capacity to contract or manage their own affairs due to injury or disease\u2014to the FBI for inclusion in the NICS index pursuant to the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, 1993 (Brady Act; P.L. 103-159). Under NIAA, since 2007, the VA must inform any benefits claimant that such determinations could lead to a loss of his or her firearms rights and privileges. But, NIAA also requires any federal authority that provides prohibiting mental health records to the FBI for inclusion in the NICS index to establish an administrative process, by which prohibited beneficiaries may petition to have those rights and privileges restored.\nPursuant to both the Brady Act and NIAA, the SSA final rule specifies the conditions under which individuals are to be reported for inclusion in the NICS index as Social Security or SSI disability beneficiaries who are too mentally incompetent to be trusted with firearms or ammunition. The rule also outlines SSA\u2019s process for notifying affected individuals as well as an administrative appeals process under which such individuals may request relief from the federal firearms prohibitions. The final rule became effective on January 18, 2017; however, compliance is not required until December 19, 2017.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": true, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R44752", "sha1": "ac02ff24f32b985543e81077c63cfba347fb8b68", "filename": "files/20170202_R44752_ac02ff24f32b985543e81077c63cfba347fb8b68.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R44752", "sha1": "2acc84f907aba41772c9e1b571032f1f0064d8c4", "filename": "files/20170202_R44752_2acc84f907aba41772c9e1b571032f1f0064d8c4.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [ { "source": "IBCList", "id": 4851, "name": "Firearms Regulation" } ] } ], "topics": [ "Crime Policy", "Domestic Social Policy", "Intelligence and National Security", "National Defense" ] }