As ordered reported by the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs on July 24, 2013
S. 572 would modify an existing requirement that certain individuals determined to be mentally incompetent by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) be prohibited from purchasing or possessing legal firearms. CBO expects that implementing S. 572 would have no significant budgetary impact.
Under current law, when VA deems individuals to be mentally incapacitated, mentally incompetent, experiencing an extended loss of consciousness, or otherwise unable to manage their own affairs, it is required to provide that information to the Department of Justice (DOJ). Such individuals are then added to the list of those prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms. Under S. 572, a judicial authority would have to determine that veterans are dangerous before VA would be required to report them to DOJ. CBO expects that such a requirement would have an insignificant impact on VA’s workload.
