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July 23, 2023 - Stew Peters Show
59:52
Disarming Heroes: The VA's Controversial Crusade Against Veteran Gun Rights
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We'll be right back.
Last week on the show, we had a really good discussion about the staggering number of currently serving military members who are killing themselves, who are committing suicide while serving in the military, active duty and reserve component soldiers.
Just this last Tuesday, the House Armed Services Committee had a pretty interesting discussion about protecting Second Amendment rights for veterans.
And if you're asking yourself, Well, who is trying to suggest that Second Amendment rights for veterans go away?
My answer to you is none other than our illustrious VA system.
So today we're going to dig into that a little bit.
So stick with us.
Don't go away.
We start now.
Hey, everybody, and welcome here to the next episode of The and welcome here to the next episode of The Richard Leonard Show.
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Okay, so let's get started here.
So again, as always, as I mentioned, I was perusing and looking, to be honest with everybody, I was searching for content topics that were positive because I feel like we have topics on this show that are negative or have a negative connotation a
lot of times.
And I don't always want to be on this show bitching about our government, bitching about the VA, and just complaining all the time.
But I couldn't pass this one up.
This last Tuesday, our House Armed Services Committee was talking about protecting Second Amendment rights for veterans.
The VA has come out and said that maybe we should think about limiting And the ability to purchase firearms to veterans who we deem shouldn't have them.
And what's really interesting is that it wasn't because of...
It wasn't necessarily because of criminal activity or criminal backgrounds or getting into those kind of troubles.
The main reason was for financial incompetence.
Or at least that's what I gathered out of the information that I found.
I don't know.
I mean, I don't know if the thought is that veterans who are not good with their money, who are financially incompetent, get so down on their luck that they see that there's no other way out and that will lead to suicide.
And it all kind of centered around attacking the suicide numbers and trying to bring those numbers down and that this would be a way To battle that number.
The 22 a day that they tell us is going on all the time.
And so, you know, there's a little bit of video from the committee hearing.
There was an article.
So I did a little bit of digging.
But none of it really makes a whole lot of sense to me.
What is refreshing to see And to hear and to read is that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle seem to somewhat agree that this may not be a really good idea, first of all.
Second of all, it may not, not only because veterans deserve to, if anybody, to have their Second Amendment right protected I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say more so than anybody else in this country.
But, and as you'll see later on in the show, in the video clip that I have, In many cases, some veterans are probably more qualified.
Whether they're down on their luck, have maybe some mental health concerns, bad with their money, whatever the case may be, they may be a little more qualified to handle a weapon than many other civilian citizens in our country.
And it really got me thinking about what's really going on here.
Like, what's the real reason?
But we'll get to that.
I kind of want to just give you the information that they put out, that our media put out, and then I'll kind of touch on what my thoughts are.
So let me just read some of this to you here.
Republican lawmakers on Tuesday.
So this was the 18th of July, just like five days ago.
Republican lawmakers on Tuesday accused the veteran affairs leaders of depriving some veterans of their right to own firearms and promised.
They promised that changes in the coming weeks are going to happen.
But lawmakers and critics say that proposed moves could end up leading to more suicide and self-harm among vulnerable veterans.
At issue, so the whole issue, the whole reason that this came up by the VA was because of this proposed legislation by House Armed, I'm sorry, the House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman, Republican Congressman Mike Bost from Illinois.
His legislation is titled the Veterans Second Amendment Protection Act.
The measure would block VA officials from sharing information with the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, otherwise known as the NICS list.
So the NICS list is when you or me or anybody else walks into a gun shop or Cabela's or Fleet Farm or wherever you go to buy your firearms and you fill out this application to purchase a firearm, This is where your information goes to this background check system, the NICS list.
And this is what tells that gun store or that store whether or not they are allowed to sell you that firearm.
This list, this database, is where you're either a go or a no-go about buying a gun.
Mr.
Bost, who is the chairman of the Veteran Affairs Committee, he said about 8,000 veterans were reported to the system last year, most for financial incompetence reasons and not criminal acts or specific mental health problems.
But the VA action would bar all of those veterans from purchasing weapons regardless of the underlying issues.
So, it doesn't matter Why they report you to this list.
It doesn't matter why the VA reports you.
It doesn't matter if it's for a criminal act.
It doesn't matter if it's for mental health reasons.
But most of them out of the 8,000 were for financial incompetence.
And I'm having a hard time understanding why financial incompetence Would be a red flag and bar you from owning a gun.
Other than guns can be expensive and maybe you should be paying your bills or feeding your family or whatever.
There's probably a lot of other things that you could be spending your money on before you buy guns.
Especially if maybe you already have one or whatever.
Whatever the case may be, I'm not one to tell anybody how to live their life.
But if I'm stupid with my money, but I have a friend that I served with who has a plethora of guns and somebody says, Hey Richard, I got all these guns here.
I know that you don't have one.
Would you like one of these pistols?
I'll sell it to you for $35.
I paid $150 for it 10 years ago, and I need to make room in my safe because I'm getting more.
Now, private gun sales, I don't believe are reported to this next list, but just for conversation's sake, let's say my buddy owns a gun shop and he's got to run me through this list.
Why, because I'm poor or because I'm bad with my money or whatever, why should that hinder me from being able to own a firearm?
I don't understand it and it makes me feel like there's something else going on here.
I both said this, the VA should not be able to take away a veteran's Second Amendment rights because they need help managing their benefits.
He also said, veterans should not be treated any differently than any other American citizen.
Even criminals have to be convicted of a crime in a court of law before their names are reported to the system.
The legislation would allow veterans to be reported to the background check database if a judge or other judicial, I can't say that word very well, judicial authority rules That an individual veteran is a danger to themselves or others.
Being a danger to yourself or others doesn't necessarily mean that you're a financial boob, right?
A danger to yourself or others may be criminal acts, may be some mental health concerns.
Republican supporters said, without such protections...
This is important here.
Veterans will avoid seeking help from VA or financial, or I'm sorry, will avoid seeking help from the VA for financial or mental health issues for fear of losing their constitutional rights.
And that's the key thing right here, folks.
If, much like we talked about when it was two, three, four weeks ago, when we were talking about Mental health concerns and security clearances in the military.
If I know that I have issues and I need help, and the place that's designed for me to go and seek out that help is also the place that's going to report me somewhere To some list or to some database that's going to take away my constitutional rights.
Specifically in this case, my constitutional right to bear arms.
I'm not going to go there.
I'm not going to ask for the help from them.
Which leads to a whole trough of other issues.
Right?
Because then what do we do?
And I think that we've seen these types of issues in the veteran community already.
Just because of the issue of mistrust maybe amongst the VA system.
That's a thing.
So, are we going to add yet another reason?
For veterans not to go to the VA, not to even register to the VA system, and we already know how that goes, right?
The more veterans that refuse to even enroll in the VA system, the less money our government gives to the VA system, which also means the quality of care at the VA system is going to decrease as the amount of veterans go up that are going to need that care.
It's a whole slippery slope, folks.
But of course, again, I'm, as usual, bad at looking, reading my clock here, but we've run out of time.
We'll be right back here for the next segment.
Stick with us.
Hey folks, welcome back here.
Before we took a break, we were talking about this whole issue causing veterans not to seek help for mental health, financial assistance, well, financial literacy assistance, or any kind of help at all, if they're afraid that they're gonna lose their constitutional rights, such as the Second Amendment right.
And I think that this is a very slippery slope, right?
Because here's the thing.
There's more than one way to commit suicide.
I think we all know that.
I don't think that that's a secret.
We've discussed it at length over and over again.
And so, if we are going to tell veterans that, hey, you're stupid with your money, and probably not in those words, Quite certainly not in those words.
But you're bad with your money.
You're broke.
You're on the verge of homelessness.
And then all the issues that come with it, right?
There's chemical dependency.
There's criminal issues that may arise because you're down on your luck, you're low on money.
And that may lead to these suicidal ideations.
And so I understand that these are issues.
I don't understand how anybody, especially the VA, would think that by limiting or taking away a veteran's right to own a firearm or purchase a firearm, How is that going to reduce the number of suicides?
Just because the government tells me that I can't own a gun, I can't legally buy or own a gun, that it's gonna magically reduce the number of suicides?
I think we've all seen in this country that people who the government says Shouldn't or can't have firearms.
First of all, they have them anyway.
If we talk about it, and it's no secret, right?
And if we talk about places like Chicago, where it's illegal to own a firearm or have a firearm, period.
But yet, they have the highest rate of gun violence in our country.
And I don't know if that's true currently, today, this week, as we sit here and record this show or watch this show or have this conversation, but it's certainly been the thing for quite some time.
So just because you tell me I can't have it means I'm not going to?
I don't know about that.
And just because you tell me that I can't buy a gun and I can't or shouldn't have one, and I make the decision that I'm going to end my life, that I can't figure out another way, I don't have a blade somewhere, There isn't a tall building or a bridge to hurl myself off of.
There isn't some kind of opioid or some kind of prescription drug that I can shove down my throat to end my life.
There isn't some Bridge embankment that I can't drive my car or motorcycle into at 100 miles.
I mean, there's so many different ways for somebody to decide to end their own life.
So just telling a veteran that they can't have a firearm because they're financially incompetent Or they've had some criminal issues.
Or maybe because they're trying to work their way through post-traumatic stress.
Or they're depressed or they have some anxiety.
That isn't going to reduce the number.
It's not going to combat the issue.
And I agree with the people that say it will make that issue worse.
Because now we're putting those folks on an island.
And not only the people, the veterans that you say shouldn't have them or can't have them, but remember folks that military people are family.
We may at times dislike each other.
We may at times pick on each other or fight with each other or even bully each other at times.
But let an outsider pick on us or bully us or fight with us.
You're going to get a swarm of people and a can of ass whooping that you're probably not ready for.
You know, it's like, I had an NCO in the Army once that used to say to civilians, you know, that, you know, private or PFC so-and-so, yeah, he might be an idiot, but you can't call him an idiot.
I can.
We can.
But you can't.
Because he's our idiot.
And so it's that thing where, like, we're a family, and he may be the dummy, and don't worry, we'll make sure that he knows he's a dummy.
But at the end of the day, when all is said and done, he's our dummy.
And we're gonna look after him, we're gonna take care of him, we're gonna defend him, because we're a family, we just so happen to have a dummy.
And so, with that being said, if you're gonna tell a bunch of veterans who are having some issues, look guys and gals, I don't think it's a good idea.
I don't think it's a good idea that you own firearms anymore.
So, what we're gonna do is we're gonna take away your ability to purchase any.
And we're also going to take away your ability to have any firearms that you may already possess.
So what we're going to need you to do is bring those on down to your local county sheriff's office and turn them in.
And don't worry, we'll take care of the rest.
And I think what you're going to find, if that happens, which I really hope it doesn't, I think what you're going to find is you're going to get a lot of middle fingers and a lot of crosswords.
And you're not going to get anybody showing up to drop off their weapons.
You're also going to get a lot of veterans who will stop using the VA and not going, whether they're the ones you say can have them or not.
Why would I want to go somewhere and get my care at a place that doesn't support my brother?
If that makes sense.
And it's kind of a long explanation, you know, go around the block to go across the street type thing, but what's really going on here?
Right?
That's what it makes me think.
Like, there's something else happening.
And then there's also these ideas that these things that our government comes up with To try to limit our ability to have or own or possess or acquire things.
It all starts with the veterans, right?
And it's kind of like we're the guinea pigs.
Let's try it on the vets and see how it works.
If it doesn't work, we'll tweak it a little bit.
We'll make some different regulations.
And if that doesn't work out so well, We'll just tweak it again until we kind of fine tune it.
We'll get it the best we can.
We'll let it sit in place for a little while.
And then we'll just go right ahead and we'll roll that out to the whole rest of the country.
And why are the veterans the ones that are tested first?
Why are we used as the guinea pigs?
Well, we're a small population within the population of this country.
All of our records are easily accessible.
I mean, when you join the military, you've given all that to them already.
When you enroll in the VA system after your military service, you've given it all to them.
Most of it they get already, right?
Because the DOD then just kind of hands it right on over to the VA. So that when you do enroll...
It's funny because when you go to the VA system, from what I remember, and you start doing the little application on the computer, and you start putting in your information, you get to the part that asks for your social security number, and after you put it in, a lot of stuff auto-populates.
Hmm.
I wonder how that happens, right?
I mean, so there's a lot of stuff I think that they roll out first for us.
So, I don't know that financially irresponsible veterans, veterans who have had a couple run-ins with the law, folks who have PTSD and some mental health issues or any other issues are the real reason Because if we're really looking to battle the suicide number of 22 a day or whatever they say it is,
just by telling veterans, hey man, we think you might be contemplating suicide so you can't have a gun, that's not gonna stop them, right?
Because what else is taught to us in the military is perseverance.
If you make the decision to do it, And Plan A is taken away from you.
You better believe that Plan B is formulated already, and if not, it won't be long till it is.
And so is Plan C, D, and E. It isn't hard to come up with a Frago and make an alternative plan.
So if you ask me, this whole thing isn't going to do anything to combat the number.
But it's interesting because there's people that say the same thing.
Ron Burke, who is the Deputy Undersecretary for Oversight and Policy at VA, said that only 33 veterans last year applied for their fiduciary designation, and only 12 of them, fewer than half, had their status changed after review.
So what this means is, That only 33 veterans appealed that they were financially irresponsible.
Only 33 of them.
He goes on to say, there isn't a large number of individuals seeking relief.
There isn't a large number of individuals that this is a problem for.
He also said the VA does not report any individuals to the federal background check system for receiving mental health treatments and battles against misinformation in the larger veterans community, implying that seeking help can lead to guns being seized.
That I do not buy.
We've been being told for years in the veteran community, be careful.
Be careful what you tell people.
I mean, here in Minnesota, and I don't know if it's true, I don't know if it's a thing, but there are many people have said, when you go fill out your paperwork for your permit to carry a firearm, be careful about how much information you put on there.
So, is it a thing?
I don't know.
Is it probably something that veterans err on the side of caution about?
You bet your suite behind it is.
I would think.
The last thing any of us are going to make easier for the powers that be is to take away our rights.
Especially, especially Our right to carry a gun.
Or own one for that matter.
Because you see, in a combat environment, those of us who were combat soldiers, even if you're not, even if you're an office person in a combat zone, your weapon is not negotiable.
It is with you everywhere.
And for the duration of your deployment, the duration of your time, in whatever country, on whatever base you were at, that weapon never was further than arms reach from you.
Or at least it shouldn't have been.
So you can't tell me that it's not a thing.
But yet, taking it away is gonna reduce the number.
There's something else going on here, I think.
Stick with us, we'll be right back.
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Hey guys, welcome back here.
Let's just, let's continue down the road here.
Here is the part of the committee hearing where the alternative, the other, both sides of the aisle start to butt heads, right?
Committee ranking member, Mark Takino, he's a member of Congress from California.
If you couldn't guess, he was a Democrat.
He said this, he said that he believes fear-mongering by Republican lawmakers over the issue of veteran Second Amendment rights has been more damaging than the current rules.
What he means by that exactly, I'm not quite sure.
But he goes on to say, firearms account for 70% of male veteran suicides and 50% of female veteran suicides.
Also, veterans are three times more likely to die by suicide than the general population.
So it begs the question, if we all care so deeply about preventing what is clearly an epidemic among the veteran community that is death by suicide, and using a firearm, why would we pursue a bill that puts more guns in the hands of vulnerable beneficiaries Of the VA. And he says the most vulnerable beneficiaries of the VA. And
so this brings me back to the idea that whether you have guns in your hands or not, in my opinion, is irrelevant.
Now, if it was a problem with veterans going out and hurting people with gun violence, okay, maybe that's a different conversation.
But we're talking about self-harm and suicide.
Taking guns out of their hands...
Is not going to, in my opinion, is not going to make a difference because there are multiple ways to make that happen if you're really interested in doing it.
I think that this conversation should not go past Tuesday, July 18th, 2023.
The conversation should be over.
There's absolutely no reason that there should be any legislation that blocks the VA from taking any action at all that would prevent any veteran from owning or possessing or buying or acquiring a firearm at all.
If they're gonna do it, they're gonna do it.
It's sad.
It's unnecessary.
And as we've discussed many times on this show, things don't have to be that way.
In my opinion, it would be a whole lot more beneficial for this committee to use their time to discuss ways to help folks.
To help these veterans who are suffering.
To help them through these dark times that they're trying to trudge through.
Not limit their ability, not limit their freedoms and take away their rights because of it.
Is making veterans feel like criminals going to make them feel better about not committing suicide?
Is that really a thing?
How can anybody think that that's gonna be effective?
And as a taxpayer in this country, it's frustrating to me that they're spending what seems to be quite a bit of time On this conversation, on this whole thing.
You are not going to effectively combat the issue, epidemic as they call it, by making veterans feel like criminals.
And they haven't committed a crime.
People who are criminals.
There's nobody talking about this in congressional hearings as it relates to criminals.
I mean, hell, if you're a felon in this country, you're prohibited from carrying a firearm.
I bet if we did enough digging, we could find numbers all over this country of how many people have been jailed under the crime of a felon in possession of a firearm.
If they're not able to have them, how the hell are they getting them?
And so if this committee or the people that think that this is a good idea, the VA, think that this is a good idea, maybe they should spend some time doing some research.
Do some research about the amount of people in this country that aren't allowed to possess a firearm, but yet get them anyway.
To carry them every day, commit crimes with them every day.
But yet we're gonna have conversations about taking away constitutional rights of the men and women who walked into a recruiter's office and signed a piece of paper And chose to sacrifice a whole hell of a lot to protect their
right to own a firearm and yours.
Just to have it taken away because maybe they're bad with their money.
Or maybe they're having a hard time processing their experience in the military.
I think that it's a well-known fact that post-traumatic stress, for example, isn't just limited to military services.
It's not just limited to military members.
Men or women who have been raped or sexually assaulted.
People who have been victimized, robbed, beat up, whatever.
Horrific car accidents, motorcycle accidents.
You know, weather accidents, severe weather accidents, all that stuff, lived through a hurricane.
How many people that lived through and survived Hurricane Katrina that were on the roofs of their houses waiting for a Black Hawk to come and save them?
How many of those people may have some post-traumatic stress?
It's not just veterans that suffer from this disease or this mental health condition.
Are all those people going to lose their right to own a firearm because they might kill themselves with one?
I mean, the conversation, the more that I think about it and talk about it, it just seems so much more ridiculous.
Republican lawmakers argued that constitutional rights trump many of those concerns that the Democrats were talking about up there.
The 70% male veterans suicides with guns, 50% female veterans suicides with guns.
And this was the dumbest thing, right?
If we all care so deeply about preventing what is clearly an epidemic amongst the veteran community, and that is a death by suicide using a firearm, why would we pursue a bill that puts more guns in their hands?
Stupid.
Whoever said that, Should get flicked right in the nose.
Republican lawmakers argue that constitutional rights trump many of those concerns and improving the process could result in more lives saved by increasing trust in VA services.
How about that?
Doesn't that sound like a good idea?
How about we increase the care in the...
The care.
What if we increase the value of the care that you get at the VA? Or anywhere else for that matter?
Increasing the quality of the programming.
Increasing the quality of the support.
Increasing the quality of the training of those who are providing the care and support.
Maybe that would have an impact on the numbers.
Maybe that would drop the number from 22 a day to...
How about we go from 22?
Why don't we set goals, right?
Let's go from 22 a day to 18.
And once we hit 18, what if we shoot for 14?
And then what if we shoot for 10?
Why don't we set clear, attainable, tangible goals to combat this problem?
Not make these people feel like criminals.
It just is, it's absolutely...
Crazy to me.
And then the article goes on, whether this measure, whether this bill becomes law is less clear.
Democratic lawmakers who hold the majority in the Senate have not shown support for the idea.
And President Biden, who by the way, slept through some meeting the other day, which I found pretty comedic, Has made gun control and suicide prevention a key focus of his administration.
And that's it.
That's where they end it.
And so, this whole issue, to me, seems like a way to just flex their muscles.
On us.
Not necessarily just veterans.
That's just where it's starting.
But flex their muscles on the American people.
This gun control thing has been an issue for many, many years.
And now they've gotten to the point where...
Well, why don't we start with the veterans?
Let's start with the vets that are really horse crap about...
Taking care of their money, right?
Because once they've squandered away all their money, and they get down on their, like we discussed earlier, they're gonna squander their money, they'll be down on their luck, then folks get desperate.
And then they do things to try to come back, right?
Which leads to criminal activity, which leads to substance abuse, drugs and alcohol.
Which leads to all kinds of other things.
So why don't we just cut them off at the pass?
Why don't we just tell them they can't own firearms?
Then maybe there won't be any criminal activity.
And then if they don't have access to firearms, they can't hurt themselves.
Because there's no other way to do it, right?
If veterans who are down on their luck and have some mental health issues don't have firearms, well...
We're just gonna make, they won't, there's no way, right?
We're gonna reduce this number drastically by cutting off their ability to own a gun.
That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard.
It's a waste of their time, it's a waste of our money.
And it's a waste of the veterans' time, right?
The veterans who fall into these categories, who are financially incompetent, who have mental health issues.
It's a waste of their time because they're also going through all these processes, right, to be evaluated, to be labeled with these things.
But nobody ever, nobody ever comes out publicly and just says, why don't we just fix, why don't we just fix the care?
Why?
Nobody ever has a public discussion about the quality of care.
We have discussions about how bad it is, how much it sucks, how much we don't want to go there, but maybe we have to because it's free and we can't afford insurance because it's expensive, medications expensive, medical supplies are expensive.
And I think also some veterans have this idea that well, One of the only benefits I have now for my service is being able to go to the VA and dammit, I'm gonna use it.
I'm going to take advantage of it.
And rightfully so.
But now they want to label you a criminal because you have some problems.
So I don't think it's fair.
I don't think it's fair.
So what I would like to see, not that anybody cares what I have to say, but what I would like to see is the Veterans Affairs Committee, Secretary McDonough, All these VA officials and these military leaders and our lawmakers and our amazing,
illustrious president, why don't you guys all have a discussion about how to increase the quality of care and fix the process?
It's no secret that veterans have been talking about it for years.
For years they've been talking about how the VA is subpar.
But then you also have some of these veterans who say, hey man, I get great care at the VA. I'm excited to be able to go there.
And what's even better is that it's free or extremely cheap depending on your individual situation.
And that's great.
But in my experience, the majority of the people that I have spoke to that go to a VA facility for care other than primary care, don't have the greatest of experiences.
And I think that that's where the problem lies, right?
Is the specialty care.
The more advanced issues that veterans have.
I guess I don't know if it's an issue of not having enough of the correct personnel.
Are they spread too thin?
Do they not pay enough?
And these specialists get paid better elsewhere at other facilities or other programs or whatever it is?
I don't know.
I don't know enough about all of that.
I'm not a medical professional.
But what I do know is that none of this seems to be helpful.
Making criminals out of veterans who haven't committed a crime.
I mean, it says there, right?
We're financially incompetent.
It's the vast majority of the ones who are reported to the NICS program or the NICS list.
Essentially, making them criminals is not going to fix the problem.
But somebody, some Republican lawmaker, says constitutional rights trump many of the concerns that the Democrats on the committee have Improving the process could result in more lives saved and increasing trust in VA services.
And I think that if we really want to get to the root of helping veterans live a better life, that's where we need to go.
Increasing the trust in the VA and their services.
On board, trusting the VA, they're going to flock there.
And trust me, if there's one thing that's super strong in the military community as well as the veteran community, it's the rumor mill.
Anybody that served, I think, will tell you.
Rumors spread like wildfire.
Good, bad, or indifferent.
Doesn't matter.
So once a small group of veterans start having a really good experience at a particular VA facility, it's gonna get out.
They're gonna be talking.
And then once one facility is known as the place to be, they're gonna start talking to others.
And slowly but surely, the word's gonna get out.
And then the administrations are going to start hearing about it.
And you better believe in meetings and behind closed doors and all these fancy little frickin' lunches and all this other crap, they're all going to start talking.
And slowly but surely, it could change.
Possibly.
I think, anyway.
But making criminals out of People who chose to sacrifice everything if they had to, to protect these rights that you're looking to take away isn't the way to combat veterans killing themselves.
It isn't the way to build trust in the system.
It isn't a way to garner support.
It's just a way To push veterans further into their hole if that's where they're at.
It's sad.
It's sad that it even has to be a discussion.
It's ridiculous.
Stick with us.
We'll be right back.
Hey guys, welcome back to the final segment of the show.
As usual, I was rambling and I didn't get to everything I wanted to, but we've come short.
We've got just a few minutes left.
And here's how I want to end.
As you know, I like to offer somewhat, some kind of a solution to a problem that I present.
And here's what I think might be helpful for this issue.
As we've discussed, taking away the rights that veterans fought for because they're having issues, whether it be financial incompetence, maybe some criminal issues, or mental health issues, or whatever it is, is the wrong answer.
Absolutely, undeniably the wrong answer.
And if the proposal is to do this in the name of decreasing suicide numbers, it's an even worse idea.
Because it isn't going to help anything.
In fact, in my opinion, It will make it worse.
So here's what I propose.
If you are a veteran and you use the VA system, you know very well that at least two or three times a year, you get some thick envelope in the mail from the VA asking you to participate in some Some survey.
Some of them I believe are probably helpful.
I've even participated in one or two.
Sometimes they even offer to give you a little bit of money for your time, a gift card or something, or not.
But at the end of the day, your participation is supposed to Go to help your brothers or sisters that are also in a similar situation as you that are using the VA for that particular issue.
So here's what I propose.
Why doesn't the VA, since they like to send out surveys to us, why don't they send out surveys about how we feel the care could be better?
Now, I'm sure that the reason why they don't or wouldn't do this is because they're going to get a lot of crap, right?
They're going to get a lot of long-winded answers that may not be very helpful.
But the other thing they might be able to do is hold some kind of town halls or something.
It will take some thought, right?
It'll take some work.
But if they're going to great lengths to try to figure out how to take gun rights away from veterans who they believe are a harm to themselves for whatever reason, they can spend the time to figure out how to incorporate veterans in the decision-making process about how to make the process and care better at a VA facility, in my opinion.
And I think that they would get participation.
And I think that there is a way to do it, possibly, that can be helpful.
A whole lot more helpful than taking away the constitutional rights of the people that chose to stand opposed and defend them.
They chose to defend their constitutional rights that you're looking to take away.
How anybody can propose that in good faith and think that that's a good idea is absolutely ridiculous to me.
Anyway, folks, we've run out of time.
Thank you.
Thank you very much for joining us.
Please stick with us.
I promise to try to get better at watching my timer to make sure that I get in all the things that I want to tell you each week.
But as usual, thank you for joining us and we will see you again next week.
Have yourself a great evening.
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