NRA Exec’s False Gun Claim
The head of the National Rifle Association’s political and lobbying arm incorrectly described a repealed Social Security Administration reporting requirement for gun background checks as targeting senior citizens “who asked for help handling their finances.”
The rule, which had been finalized in December 2016, was revoked by a joint resolution that President Donald Trump signed into law in February. It would have required the SSA to report certain mentally disabled beneficiaries to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, or NICS, a federal database used to conduct gun background checks.
, the executive director of the NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action, that Trump opposed the rule because “you can’t arbitrarily deny a senior citizen their Second Amendment rights based on no finding of dangerousness.” However, the rule didn’t single out seniors. It would have covered 18- to 65-year-olds receiving disability benefits — not retirement payments — due to a diagnosed
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