The Obama administration is mulling a plan to disarm Social Security recipients who are unable to manage their own disability payments – a push that would reportedly bring the federal agency in line with laws that keep felons, drug addicts and illegal immigrants from buying and owning weapons.
The Los Angeles Times reported federal laws already ban gun ownership by those who, due to what's called "marked subnormal intelligence, or mental illness, incompetency, condition or disease," can't manage their own affairs. And that means many receiving benefits under the Social Security Administration's programs could be swept into the gun ban, Fox News reported.
The idea being debated is to extend the standards used by the Department of Veterans Affairs to Social Security recipients insofar as mandating background checks for gun buys. That means about 4.2 million adults currently accepting monthly benefits – who are also being aided by "representative payees" – could be impacted.
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Fox News says the move comes due to Obama's wish to clamp down on gun ownership, specifically since the Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shootings and killings in 2012.
Critics call the idea unfair and say it may keep those with serious mental issues from owning weapons, but it would also yank guns out of the hands of those who just have trouble balancing checkbooks.