President Trump signed a measure into law Tuesday that rescinds an Obama-era rule aimed at blocking gun sales to certain mentally ill people.
The GOP-majority Senate passed the bill by a 57-43 margin earlier this month, following a House vote to overturn the rule.
The Obama administration policy "would have required the Social Security Administration to report the records of some mentally ill beneficiaries to the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System," as The Two-Way has reported. "Those who have been deemed mentally incapable of managing their financial affairs roughly 75,000 people would have been affected by the rule."
It was strongly opposed by the National Rifle Association, and as NPR's Jessica Taylor reported, "Republicans argued it infringed upon Second Amendment rights by denying due process."
As we have reported, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, a leading supporter of the rule's repeal, has stated that "if a specific individual is likely to be violent due to the nature of their mental illness, then the government should have to prove it."
Rep Sheila Lee introduced this bill this past spring but no action was taken on it
Mental Health Access and Gun Violence Prevention Act of 2017
This bill authorizes FY2018 appropriations for the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Social Security Administration to: (1) increase access to mental health care treatment and services, and (2) promote reporting of mental health information to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.