Rep. Eli Crane’s Language Included in Bipartisan Bill Restoring Veterans’ Second Amendment Rights

Photo: Congressman Eli Crane meeting with the Secretary for Veterans Affairs Doug Collins 

On May 21^st, in a bipartisan vote, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R.1041, the Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act, which would codify the Trump administration’s recent directive ending the VA’s decades‑long practice of reporting certain veterans to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS).

For nearly thirty years, the VA automatically labeled veterans with fiduciaries as “prohibited persons,” resulting in hundreds of thousands of veterans being stripped of their Second Amendment rights without any judicial or quasi‑judicial determination. This procedure violated both the Gun Control Act and constitutional protections.

In February, the Trump administration formally terminated this unlawful process and instructed the VA to work with the FBI to remove all past VA‑initiated NICS entries that were based solely on fiduciary appointments. While Rep. Eli Crane (R‑AZ) applauded this long‑overdue correction, he has consistently warned that a future administration could reverse course unless Congress codifies these protections into law.

Rep. Crane has helped lead the fight to end this practice for years. In the 118th Congress, he introduced H.R.9053 and H.R.9054 to nullify prior VA submissions to NICS and bar the VA from participating in state‑level gun confiscation proceedings. He reintroduced these reforms this Congress as H.R.496. During the FY25 appropriations process, he also secured an amendment to the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Bill clarifying that any veteran the VA reported to NICS based solely on a fiduciary appointment was reported unlawfully and requiring the Attorney General to remove those names. Unfortunately, that measure ultimately stalled in the Senate.

Despite these setbacks, Rep. Crane continued to press forward. After coordinating with House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Mike Bost (R‑IL), his language restoring veterans’ constitutional rights was included in H.R.1041, which has now passed the House.

“If the federal government is willing to strip the God‑given, unalienable rights of those who served in uniform, there is no telling where they will draw the line. H.R.1041 codifies the termination of this un‑American practice and prevents future administrations from unilaterally reversing this wise decision,” said Rep. Crane. “I’m grateful to President Trump for protecting the rights of our nation’s heroes, and I appreciate Chairman Bost for adopting my language into his bill. I urge my colleagues in the Senate to quickly pass these necessary reforms.”