VA SCREENING VETS TO TAKE AWAY CONCEALED CARRY PERMITS 1JAN12

ANOTHER piece of propaganda by the nra spreading fear of the Obama administration and the Vets Administration. Pathetic how these people are willing to lie and deceive people to further their gun agenda and even more pathetic how people will spread these e mails without checking them out. At least my friend who sent it to me asked me to check it out to see if it is true or not....From the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) click the header to go to the MOAA site...

Another viral email about President Obama taking away your guns, this time focused on veterans and VA screening. The story is probably a shadow of an anecdote that was altered for political purposes, but there is no truth to the statement attributed to the nurse in the email below. The volume in this email is rivaling another that we’re working on for a later article regarding a $50 tax penalty for gun owners (which is also clever bilge).

The Most Common Email

U.S. Military Vets being disarmed!
The U.S. Veterans Administration has been instructed by the Department of Homeland Security to ask military vets 3 questions when they come in for any kind of medical check-up or problem. Answering “Yes” to any single question will result in the vet being disarmed by the government.

The following e-mail was sent to the [blank] by a Vietnam Veteran. His identity is being concealed to prevent reprisals.

I had a doctors appointment at the local VA clinic yesterday and found something very interesting I would like to pass along.. While going through triage before seeing the doctor, I was asked at the end of the exam, three questions.

(1. Did I feel stressed?)
(2. Did I feel threatened?)
(3. Did I feel like doing harm to someone?)

The nurse then informed me, if I had answered yes to any of the questions, I would have lost my concealed carry permit as it would have gone into my medical records and the VA would have reported it to Homeland Security. I am a Viet Nam vet and 15 year cc permit holder. Looks like they are going after us vets.” Be forewarned and be aware. If you are a veteran, you’ve been warned.

Origins

Unclear. There are a few variations of the email going through the web and scattered across message boards. The earliest web indexed article regarding the email is from May 17, 2009 and it was the TruthorFiction article that clearly carried a ‘Fiction’ verdict.

Evaluation & Commentary

There are many logical problems with this email (tip of the hat to VA Watchdog for some crucial details, and if they are calling Bilge on a VA matter you can take it to the bank):

• The first line gives the wrong name for the VA, a dead giveaway from the start. The U.S. Veterans Administration is not the name of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.
• The DVA is strict in upholding patient/doctor confidentiality, and does not report information to the Department of Homeland Security unless there’s been a commission of a crime. Being stressed, feeling threatened and having thoughts of harming others are not crimes by any stretch of legalities.
• DHS has no bearing on whether or not a concealed carry permit is issued. Depending on state laws it is the responsibility of the state, county or city of residence of the citizen.
• There is no record of DHS asking DVA to ask these questions, and even if they did, the DVA is an independent cabinet position and not under the jurisdiction of DHS.
• The lack of any good specifics, such as a location, person, etc…
• These are questions that veterans of combat are routinely asked during examinations to look for signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and they’ve been a part of screening for longer than Obama has been president.

For further details of the realities of gun control in the Obama era, please read our own analysis, found here. There have not been any significant changes to the situation since that article was written.


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