NSSF Salutes VA Secretary Collins for Protecting Veterans’ Second Amendment Rights

February 19, 2026
3:20 am

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In a major win for Second Amendment advocates, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) is hailing VA Secretary Doug Collins for dismantling a pernicious three-decade-old policy that automatically flagged veterans needing financial fiduciaries—often due to minor issues like battlefield injuries or age-related assistance—straight to the FBI's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). This bureaucratic overreach, born in the 1990s, treated financial dependency as a proxy for mental unfitness, stripping thousands of honorable service members of their gun rights without due process. NSSF Senior Vice President Lawrence G. Keane rightly called it a monumental step forward, spotlighting how this reversal restores dignity and constitutional protections to vets who've already sacrificed so much for our freedoms. The implications ripple far beyond the VA's halls. This isn't just policy tinkering; it's a direct rebuke to the gun control playbook that equates vulnerability with violence, a tactic we've seen weaponized against the elderly, the disabled, and now our heroes in uniform. By axing this red flag precursor, Collins slams the door on guilt-by-association databases that erode due process—the very foundation of the 2A. Contextually, it dovetails perfectly with the Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act, championed by Reps. Mike Bost and Morgan Luttrell alongside Sens. John Kennedy and Jerry Moran. This bipartisan push aims to codify these protections, shielding future vets from ATF overreach and ensuring no one loses their rights merely for accepting help with a checkbook. For the 2A community, this is rocket fuel: proof that persistent advocacy yields results, even in a divided D.C. It underscores why groups like NSSF are indispensable, bridging industry muscle with grassroots firepower. Gun owners should cheer this as a blueprint—rally behind the Act, contact your reps, and keep the pressure on. Veterans aren't risks; they're rights-bearers, and today's victory reminds the anti-2A crowd that the right to keep and bear arms isn't negotiable, fiduciary or not. Stay vigilant; the fight's just heating up.

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The implications ripple far beyond the VA’s halls. This isn’t just policy tinkering; it’s a direct rebuke to the gun control playbook that equates vulnerability with violence, a tactic we’ve seen weaponized against the elderly, the disabled, and now our heroes in uniform. By axing this red flag precursor, Collins slams the door on guilt-by-association databases that erode due process—the very foundation of the 2A. Contextually, it dovetails perfectly with the Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act, championed by Reps. Mike Bost and Morgan Luttrell alongside Sens. John Kennedy and Jerry Moran. This bipartisan push aims to codify these protections, shielding future vets from ATF overreach and ensuring no one loses their rights merely for accepting help with a checkbook.

For the 2A community, this is rocket fuel: proof that persistent advocacy yields results, even in a divided D.C. It underscores why groups like NSSF are indispensable, bridging industry muscle with grassroots firepower. Gun owners should cheer this as a blueprint—rally behind the Act, contact your reps, and keep the pressure on. Veterans aren’t risks; they’re rights-bearers, and today’s victory reminds the anti-2A crowd that the right to keep and bear arms isn’t negotiable, fiduciary or not. Stay vigilant; the fight’s just heating up.

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