If This Happens, Mental Illness Won't Keep You From Buying A Gun Anymore

Congress is fighting over gun control, again ya'll. The Democrats staged a protest demanding a vote on gun control which lasted 26 hours. One of the last measures that the Obama administration enacted required the Social Security Administration (SSA) to turn over records of those who have a mental illness to the national gun background check system. 

The regulation served two ends. One, it required the SSA to share information about the ability of the disabled to manage their benefits independently. And two, it was to limit the ability of those with mental illness to purchase guns. After tragedies like the Charleston Massacre (2015), Sandy Hook (2012), Aurora (2012), and Orlando (2016) rocked the nation, you would think that more people would be in favor of these kinds of measures.

Well, not so much. On February 2, the Republican-led House voted 235-180 to repeal the regulation using the Congressional Review Act. That's what started this feud in the first place. Representative Kevin Brady, R-Texas, who chairs the Ways and Means Committee argued the following as reported by CNN: 

"The Social Security Administration not only overstepped its mission with this regulation, it discriminated against certain Americans with disabilities who receive Social Security benefits. The agency should be focused on serving all of its beneficiaries, not picking and choosing whose Second Amendment rights to deny."

In contrast, Democrats vigorously raised concerns that a repeal would lead to even more gun violence. They are demanding that the Republicans come back to the table to further discuss the impact that a repeal would have on public safety. Representative Lloyd Doggett, D-Texas, made this argument: "The American people and the families that are being hurt day after day by gun violence—they deserve some due process, too."

Can we agree for a minute that walking into a school, or a church, or even a place of business and shooting everybody in sight is not the behavior of a sane individual? How many people have to die before we figure that out? And considering the epidemic numbers of police-involved shootings that have resulted in the deaths of countless unarmed people, perhaps the measure should be expanded, not repealed.

Opposers of gun control measures don't see things that way, at all. The National Rifle Association (NRA) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and others believe that this particular measure casts too wide of a net (whatever, better safe than sorry), it doesn't provide the opportunity for due process (there is such a thing as an appeal process), and that there would be people designated for the database with conditions that should not stop a gun purchase (like what, exactly?).

The Senate is pushing to pass the new measure very soon with high hopes that the president will sign it. Doesn't look like the Democrats are backing down, so the outcome is a tough call. Might want to invest in some protective gear, though. We are in for a long four years...