Deluzio Calls for VA Secretary to Examine Links Between Background Checks and Veteran Suicide Gun Deaths

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Iraq War veteran and Vice Ranking Member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Congressman Chris Deluzio (PA-17) sent a letter  to  Secretary of Veterans Affairs Denis McDonough to raise issues with Section 413 of the recently-passed minibus. A section frequently referred to as the “Kennedy Amendment,” it restricts VA’s ability to notify the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) when someone has been deemed mentally incapacitated due to their use of a fiduciary. 

A member of the Gun Violence Prevention Task Force and the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, Congressman Deluzio’s letter highlights two major focus areas and recommendations to help tackle the tragedy of veteran suicide. 

He writes, “Now that being assigned a fiduciary no longer equates on its own to being considered a ‘mental defective’ and therefore reportable to NICS, I look forward to learning about the revised definition from the Department of Justice and processes implemented by the VA. I trust they will diligently ensure that veterans being (re)evaluated for Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) benefits can still be identified to NICS if they are considered a danger to themselves or others.” 

Congressman Deluzio continues, “I urge you to undertake a study into the effects that this amendment has on the rate of veteran suicide. The data for such a study is already collected as part of your National Veterans Suicide Prevention Annual Report. Therefore, obtaining the number of veterans who die by firearm suicide who were assigned to fiduciaries before Kennedy amendment implementation (and were reported to NICS) should be easy to then compare to those following [passage of] the amendment.” 

Congressman Deluzio has long had concerns with the definition used to deem a veteran as “mentally defective.” After the passage of the Kennedy Amendment, he sees this latest development as an opening to work with the Department of Justice to create a more accurate way of evaluating a veteran’s risk status. 

The analysis Congressman Deluzio is requesting from the VA Secretary will provide important insight on the impact of the different methods regarding the NICS reporting system on veterans dying by firearm suicide. Sadly, veteran suicide impacts communities across America, including Western Pennsylvania. On October 10, 2023, a veteran died by suicide with a gun on the campus of the H. John Heinz III VA Medical Center—within Congressman Deluzio’s congressional district. Working to bring the number of veteran suicides down to zero is one of the Congressman’s main priorities in Congress. 

See the full text of Congressman Deluzio’s letter to Secretary McDonough here.  

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