EXPANDING THE ASSAULT
By Michael Connelly
MichaelConnelly.Jigsy.com
I
may not always be the brightest candle on the cake,
but it doesn’t take a wall to fall on me for certain
things to come clearly into focus. That is what has
happened in the last few weeks as we at the United
States Justice Foundation (USJF) have continued to
move forward with our investigation into the
expanding assault of the Federal and some state
governments on the Second Amendment rights of our
veterans.
What
we have uncovered is a coordinated effort by
multiple federal agencies to disarm the American
people. The tactics being used are not just
violating the Constitutional rights of Americans,
but include outright criminal acts such as extortion
and blackmail. Veterans continue to be the primary
target, but the groundwork has been laid to expand
the disarmament efforts to the rest of the
population.
The
veterans are clearly considered the most dangerous
of the gun owners in the country because there are
23 million of us and we all took an oath of office
to “protect and defend the Constitution of the
United States against all enemies, foreign and
domestic.” We are trained to do just that so we pose
a threat to those who want to take away our
Constitutional republic.
The
government is also using the veterans as guinea pigs
to develop methods that can be used to steal their
Constitutional rights. Some veterans get the letter
from the VA telling them that because of physical or
mental disabilities they are going to be declared
incompetent to handle their own financial affairs,
and the VA will appoint a fiduciary for them. The
veterans are given 60 days to prove they are
competent, which is a direct violation of the due
process clause of the Constitution that requires the
burden of proof be on the government.
The
letter also tells the veteran that once they are
declared incompetent they can no longer own,
possess, purchase, or transport firearms or
ammunition. If they do they will be prosecuted. The
names of veterans who have been declared incompetent
are sent by the VA to the FBI where they are
automatically declared to have been adjudicated to
be mentally defective to the point of being a danger
to themselves or others. They are put on the
National Instant Criminal Background Check System
(NICS) and can no longer legally purchase firearms.
However, in none of the cases that we know of has
there been an adjudication process with a hearing
before a judge or an administrative judge. Nor have
the veterans in most cases been examined by a
psychiatrist, psychologist, or even an MD. Eric
Holder decided that anyone who works for the VA can
declare veterans incompetent for any reason
including having their bills paid automatically out
of their bank accounts.
I
have reported on all of this is the past, but as we
have gotten more aggressive in representing
individual veterans to defend their Constitutional
rights the VA has adopted additional tactics against
our American heroes. Some veterans have never gotten
any letter or official notification from the VA.
They find out they are on the NICS list when they
try to purchase a firearm. Often they can’t even
find out why they are on the list.
Other veterans who fight the incompetency
declaration and lose can appeal, but are being told
that if they do defy the government and appeal,
their benefit payments can be suspended for the
duration of the appeal, which can drag on for years.
The families of veterans are also been told that
since they live with a veteran who has been declared
incompetent they can’t own or purchase firearms.
They are also being put on the NICS list. So first
it was the veterans, and now the government is
expanding the prohibition to the families.
Now
we have uncovered another new wrinkle to this
assault by the government. Veterans who are declared
incompetent are being told that if they want to have
their Second Amendment rights restored they can
simply sign a form from the VA giving up their VA
benefits. This is simply unbelievable. On the one
hand the VA and the FBI have found veterans to be
mentally ill and too dangerous to be allowed to own
firearms, while on the other hand allowing these
allegedly dangerous people to buy their firearm
rights back. This is illegal and is called
extortion. One thing we are looking into is what
happens to the money that veterans give up. We
suspect it does not all go back in the treasury.
These are the veteran stories yet we believe we have
just scratched the surface. I mentioned that there
are multiple agencies involved and they are
expanding the gun grabbing programs into other
segments of the populations. All veterans that go to
the VA are questioned about their firearms ownership
and now we are finding that some seniors on Medicare
are being asked the same questions. So are some
dental patients and even children who are seeing
pediatricians are being questioned about their
parents’ gun ownership.
Other agencies involved in this massive assault are
the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that
continues to list veterans and other supporters of
the Second Amendment as the top potential domestic
terrorists. The purpose is to demonize these two
groups and make the public more agreeable to having
them disarmed.
Following the lead of an Executive Oder issued by
Obama, the Department of Health and Human Services
(HHS) is directly violating the federal HIPAA law
that was passed by Congress to protect the privacy
of medical records. It is releasing the records to
the FBI of anyone who has ever told their physician
they were feeling depressed, even if never treated,
and anyone who has taken certain drugs for things
like PTSD, ADD, or ADHD, among others. All of these
people will eventually be added to the NICS list.
The
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (BATF) is
issuing new regulations broadening the definition of
people who are mentally ill and dangerous to include
anyone, including children from ever legally owning
or purchasing firearms because they were ever sent
by a judge to be examined by a psychiatrist or
psychologist. Unfortunately, such actions are often
taken by family court judges when there are divorce
and custody battles going on. In the vast majority
of cases, there is no finding of mental illness, but
under the new BATF regulations that won’t matter.
The people will be banned for life from owning a
firearm.
Then
there are the actions of the Department of Justice
(DOJ) threatening banks and credit card companies
with investigations and sanctions if they continue
to do business with any entity selling firearms or
ammunition such as gun stores or pawn shops. This is
another case of criminal extortion by the Federal
government.
What
is next? Will you have to surrender your firearms to
keep your social security, or to stay on Medicare?
Will you have to certify that neither you nor any of
you employees own firearms in order to get a
contract with the Federal government? The groundwork
is clearly being laid for all of this to happen.
After all, we are living in Obamaland.
mrobertc@hotmail.com
Michael Connelly blog
www.usjf.net
Constitutional Law Alliance