Probably Isn't Good Enough

     I happened to re-read this somewhat chilling note I made on a client a couple of months ago:

He's not in psych treatment now. Didn't like his treating doc asking if he had access to guns and didn't like the meds he was taking. [I] Told him he needs to get back in treatment. He was in special forces.

     Guns really are a problem in this country. This man probably won't harm himself or other people. Probably.

Funding Bill Passes -- Will Trump Sign It?

     Congress has passed and sent to the President an omnibus appropriations bill that will finally fund the Social Security Administration and other federal agencies through the end of the federal fiscal year, September 30, 2018. 

     The bill contained a last minute addition pertaining to Social Security. The agency was instructed not to close or, perhaps I should say, to reopen a Milwaukee field office that it had recently closed.

     Gun nuts are concerned that the bill would allow Social Security to again adopt regulations that would prevent seriously mentally ill Social Security recipients with representative payees from purchasing firearms. The Obama Administration had adopted that set of regulations but Congress blocked them early last year. Readoption of those regulations wouldn't happen until there's a change in the White House.

     Update: Yesterday, Donald Trump said he would sign the omnibus appropriations bill. Today, after it passes, he's threatening to veto it. There's a government shutdown beginning at midnight tonight if he vetoes it.

     Further update: Yes, Trump did sign it.

Senate Votes To Allow Mentally Ill Claimants With Rep Payees To Buy Guns

     The Senate has now joined the House of Representatives in voting to block regulations adopted during the Obama Administration that would have prevented some individuals with representative payees drawing disability benefits from Social Security from buying firearms. 

     Great work by all those in the Obama Administration who slow walked these regulations. The GOP couldn't have blocked these regs without your help. Oh, I know, you rushed it from Notice of Proposed Rule-Making (NPRM) to Final Regulation. I'm talking about all the time this was being ever so slowly considered before the NPRM was published.

Why Deny A Man His Right To Self-Defense Just Because He Hears Voices Telling Him To Kill People?

     The House of Representatives approved  on Thursday a resolution that would undo regulations adopted during the Obama Administration that would prevent many Social Security recipients from buying firearms if they need the help of a representative payee handling money. I am uncertain whether Democrats can or will filibuster this in the Senate.

Congress To "Review" Gun Control Regs

     A National Rifle Association press release says that Congress has agreed to "review" the new regulations that just went into effect that require that the Social Security Administration add the names of some individuals receiving benefits through a representative payee to the national list of individuals who are not allowed to purchase firearms. I don't know what the NRA means by "review."

Gun Control Regs Now Official

     Social Security is publishing the new regulations that will permit the agency to report claimants with representative payees to the database used to screen gun purchasers. Those with representative payees won’t be allowed to buy guns. This will come into effect before inauguration day. However, Trump can refuse to implement the new regulations. I wonder, though, whether the initial data transfer can be accomplished before inauguration day. Can it be easily removed from the gun control database once it gets in there? 

     By the way, whenever I post about this subject, there are always comments about Social Security appointing representative payees for people who have little or no problem handing money. Balderdash. I think most, if not all, of these comments are coming from paid shills. Don't be naive. There is a lot of right wing money being used to try to affect the political discourse in subtle ways. Don't get misled.

Gun Control Regulations Approved

     The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has cleared new Social Security regulations that will have the agency passing along information on claimants who have representative payees to the database used to prevent some individuals from purchasing firearms. Expect these final regulations to appear in the Federal Register shortly and to come info effect before inauguration day. However, it would be possible for the incoming administration to refuse to implement them. You will not be able to read the final version of these regulations until they are sent to the Office of Federal Register.

Gun Control Regulations Sent To OMB

     The Social Security Administration has sent final rules to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that will require the agency to provide information on claimants who have been appointed representative payees to a database used to determine eligibility to buy firearms. If approved, the final regulations will be posted in the Federal Register. There is still time for these to come into effect before President Obama leaves office but OMB must act fast. Inauguration day is January 20. There has to be a 30 day notice period after final regulations are published before they come into effect. if these regulations become final before inauguration day, it takes a long process to take them off the books.

     By the way, nothing about this proposal would remove firearms from anyone's possession. This is only about the ability to purchase firearms. Also, the notion put forward by some gun nuts that representative payees are appointed to handle the benefits of people who have only minor problems is ridiculous. The only people I see getting representative payees appointed are severely impaired. 

     In reading comments on this board, whether in response to this or other posts, remember that some commenters are paid shills who don't hesitate to lie about their knowledge or experience.

NRA Does Its Thing

     According to a recent report by Social Security's Office of Inspector General (OIG), the agency received 90,920 comments on the recent Rule-Making proposal to have the agency report the names of individuals who have been assigned a representative payee to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, where it could be used to prevent individuals from purchasing firearms. The agency must go through all of these comments. I'm sure that the vast majority are nothing more than the repetition of National Rifle Association talking points but it's still a huge number of comments to go through, by far the most in Social Security's history. I can predict that without a lot of pressure from the White House, this one will go on the back burner.

Many Comments On Gun Control Proposal

     There are 3,774 comments already on Social Security's Notice of Proposed Rule-Making that would require that the Social Security Administration refer individuals with a history of serious mental illness to a database used to prevent certain people from buying firearms. Comments will be allowed until July 5.

Proposed Gun Control Regs To Be In Federal Register Tomorrow

     The proposed regulations that will make it impossible for some Social Security disability recipients who have representative payees to purchase firearms will appear in the Federal Register tomorrow. Some points to keep in mind:

• Remember this is just a proposal. Nothing is going into effect at this time. If Donald Trump gets elected President, it is unlikely to go into effect.
• This isn't about seizing anyone's guns. It would only prevent some people with serious psychiatric problems from buying guns.
• It would only apply to people drawing Social Security disability benefits who meet or equal a Listing for psychiatric illness. These are people with very serious mental health problems.
• It wouldn't apply to anyone drawing Social Security retirement benefits.
• Those who would be affected by this proposal will still have an avenue to prove that it's safe for them to buy firearms.
• Don't believe all the nonsense you hear from the NRA. The black helicopters aren't coming to seize your guns and force you into a concentration camp. This proposal isn't the beginning of the apocalypse.

Social Security Releases Advance Copy Of Proposed Regulations On Gun Control

     The proposed regulations which would provide a role for the Social Security Administration in determining eligibility to purchase firearms have not yet been published in the Federal Register. However, the agency has posted the proposed regulations on its website. They say that the Acting Commissioner signed them on April 28. I don't understand why they haven't yet been sent over for publication.

     Below are some excerpts from the proposal. Note that this proposal does not provide a right to an evidentiary hearing specifically on the issue of competency to purchase firearms. However, a claimant can appeal a determination that a representative payee should be appointed. Without a representative payee appointment the claimant's name cannot go on the list.  Hearings on representative payee appointments have been extremely rare. I've been representing Social Security claimants for 37 years and I've never done one. I've never heard of another attorney doing one. Also note that this is only a proposal. The public can comment on the proposal. Social Security must consider the comments and then obtain the approval of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) before publishing this as final regulations. That will likely take many months. If a Republican is elected President in November these proposed regulations will probably die. Finally, note that that the proposal would only apply to some individuals drawing benefits due to disability. A person drawing retirement benefits who needs a representative payee because he or she suffers from severe dementia would not be excluded from purchasing firearms. In fact, it appears to me that an individual excluded from purchasing firearms under this proposal who ages off disability benefits and onto retirement benefits would suddenly be able to purchase firearms again even those his or her mental abilities would not have changed.

Affected individual means an individual:

 (1) Who has been found disabled based on a finding that the individual’s impairment(s) meets or medically equals the requirements of one of the Mental Disorders Listing of Impairments... and

(2) For whom we need to make a capability finding under the rules in part 404, subpart U of this chapter, or under the rules in part 416, subpart F of this chapter, and that finding is the result of marked subnormal intelligence, or mental illness, incompetency, condition or disease ...

If we report an individual to the NICS [database used to exclude certain individuals from purchasing firearms] based on a finding that he or she meets the criteria in § 421.110(b)(1) – (5), the individual may apply for relief from the Federal firearms prohibitions imposed by Federal law as a result of our adjudication...

(a) When we decide whether to grant an application for relief, we will consider:

(1) The circumstances regarding the firearms prohibitions imposed;

(2) The applicant’s record, which must include the applicant’s mental health records and a criminal history report; and

(3) The applicant’s reputation, developed through witness statements or other evidence.

(b) Evidence. The applicant must provide the following evidence to us in support of a request for relief:

(1) A current statement from the applicant’s primary mental health provider assessing the applicant’s current mental health status and mental health status for the 5 years preceding the date of the request for relief ; and

(2) Written statements and any other evidence regarding the applicant’s reputation. ...

An applicant who requests relief under § 421.150 must prove that he or she is not likely to act in a manner dangerous to public safety and that granting relief from the prohibitions imposed by 18 U.S.C. 922(d)(4) and (g)( 4) will not be contrary to the public interest....

Judicial review of our action denying an applicant’s request for review is available according to the standards contained in 18 U.S.C. 925(c). An individual for whom we have denied an application for relief may file a petition for judicial review with the United States district court for the district in which he or she resides .

Proposal For Social Security Role In Gun Control Advances

     The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved a set of proposed Social Security regulations that will almost certainly touch on gun control. Apparently, Social Security will be giving information on some individuals who have been appointed representative payees to handle their Social Security benefits. These proposed regulations should appear in the Federal Register next week if Social Security follows its normal practice.

     Once the proposed regulations are published in the Federal Register, the public will be able to comment on them. The agency must consider the comments. If Social Security still wants to go ahead with the regulations, a final version of the regulations must be submitted to OMB. If OMB approves the regulations they are published in the Federal Register and soon go into effect. This process ordinarily takes many months even when there are only a few comments. In this case, there may be a large number of comments. Perhaps, enough pressure will be put on Social Security to complete action on this proposal before President Obama leaves office but I would be surprised. This proposal has moved slowly to this point. If the proposal is still pending after the election its fate will be in the hands of the new President.

     Gun advocates have argued that people with only minor problems will be denied access to firearms. I consider this argument ridiculous. In my experience, Social Security only appoints representative payees in fairly extreme situations. A few clients I've had who were assigned representative payees posed a risk of deliberately harming others. Many, many more were at risk of suicide. Almost all posed a risk of accidentally harming themselves or others if given access to firearms.

     The earlier reports suggested that the agency would create some mechanism for claimants with representative payees to appeal a decision to report them to the database used to limit firearms purchases for those with criminal backgrounds or serious mental illness. This may create a significant new workload for Social Security.

     In any case, individuals with representative payees will be unable to buy firearms. Nobody is going to seize the weapons they already own.

    Update: The White House has just issued a press release on this proposal.

Social Security Proceeding On Gun Control

     The Social Security Administration has sent proposed regulations to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on "Implementation of the NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007." NICS is the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. The NICS Improvement Amendments Act of 2007 was passed in the wake of the mass shooting at Virginia Tech. That Act was designed to allow NICS to better obtain information about individuals who have a history of severe psychiatric problems which might make them dangerous.

     Before anyone gets too excited about this, let me give a brief sketch about what happens next in the process which must be followed if these proposed regulations are to come into effect. First, OMB must approve them. Ordinarily, this takes at least a few weeks. Second, Social Security must publish the proposed regulations in the Federal Register in what's called a Notice of Proposed Rule-Making (NPRM). The public is allowed comment on the NPRM. Generally, the public is given 60 days to comment but this time period is usually extended for an NPRM that attracts much public attention. Social Security must then review the comments, perhaps alter the proposed regulations to some extent, and them publish them in the Federal Register again so that they may go into effect. This process normally takes a year or more even for regulations that attract only a few comments. This NPRM will attract thousands of comments. They'll be repetitive but employees still have to catalog them. I have no idea how long it will take Social Security to deal with the comments but it will be a big job. Without truly extraordinary efforts there is no way this proposal will go into effect while Barack Obama is still President.

CCD Opposes President's Gun Control Plan

     The Coalition for Citizens with Disabilities (CCD), the major umbrella organization of disability-related organizations in the United States, has released a letter it sent to Valerie Jarrett, senior advisor to the President, after a meeting concerning the White House plan to have the Social Security Administration relay information about some individuals who have been appointed representative payees so that they might be prevented from buying guns. CCD opposes the plan because they believe that it would stigmatize those disabled by mental illness.

     I am aghast at the CCD position. Do they have any idea how difficult it is to be approved for Social Security disability benefits due to mental illness? Maybe they just accepted without question the talking points of the National Rifle Association (NRA). The NRA wants people to think that you get a representative payee if you're suffering from any mental illness. False. Only a small minority of those suffering from mental illness get a representative payee. The NRA wants you to think you get a representative payee if you're illiterate. False. No one at Social Security is going to even think about going to the trouble of appointing a representative payee merely because a person is illiterate. The NRA wants you to think that you get a representative payee if you're not good at math. False. It takes far more than that to get a representative payee. Those who are appointed representative payees are really, really sick people. I'd guess that most schizophrenics don't end up with a representative payee. People who end up with a representative payee are generally people who are very severely impaired by mental illness. We're talking about people who shouldn't be driving a car much less owning a firearm.

     I've got an idea, CCD. Why don't we abolish involuntary commitment? The existence of a process which can take away a person's liberty due to mental illness creates a much greater stigma than reducing access to guns. How about it, CCD? If you're not worried about paranoid schizophrenics buying guns, why should you worry about paranoid schizophrenics who threaten to kill themselves or others? Most of those who threaten to kill themselves or others won't do it. Why do we need to stigmatize them by locking them up?

A Different Route That Doesn't Involve Social Security?

     In early January the President announced that the Social Security Administration would begin a rulemaking process to allow the agency to notify, in some cases, the National Instant Criminal Background Check System about the appointment of a representative payee for a Social Security recipient. The idea is that if a person is mentally incompetent to handle money, he or she is probably not competent to buy a firearm. The first step in the rulemaking process is for an agency to send a draft proposal to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for approval. It was already almost too late for Social Security to finish action on a rulemaking on this subject when the President made the announcement but Social Security still hasn't sent over a proposal to OMB. If they were going to do this while Obama was still President they should be rushing but they're not. I've been wondering what's going on. Then, I see a link to this article in Modern Healthcare, of all places:

Senators on Wednesday expressed strong bipartisan support for bills that would improve the interactions of the mentally ill and the police, but clashed on how to pay for the reform and how it might affect gun ownership. ... 

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) last summer introduced a bill that encourages states to share more mental health records for use in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System.  

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he thinks Cornyn's bill, which is approved by the National Rifle Association, would make it easier, not harder, for people with severe mental illness to acquire firearms.  

“I'd like to make clear while there's broad bipartisan consensus for provisions that include how we treat mental illness, that consensus does not exist for provisions that make it easier for mentally ill individuals to get guns,” Schumer said.

Cornyn vehemently denied that. He has said his bill improves the background check system without expanding it. ... 

The mental health reform bills discussed during Wednesday's hearing aren't the only ones on the table. A bipartisan bill co-sponsored by Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), which does not include language on guns, is expected to move through the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee soon. ... 

Cornyn has said he has talked with HELP Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) about eventually combining the bills. But Democrats have pushed back on that suggestion, because of the provisions on gun control.

     I'm suspecting that the White House is holding off on a Social Security rulemaking in hopes that there is some legislative action on this issue.
     Honestly, does anyone, including the NRA, want to demand access to firearms for paranoid schizophrenics who have had repeated involuntary commitments because they have become a danger to themselves or others? I hope that even the NRA can't be that crazy. Ted Nugent, yes, but the entire organization?

Big Surprise: Controversy Over SSA Role In Gun Control

     From the New York Times:

Responding to Republicans who have repeatedly tied gun violence to mental healthissues, President Obama’s new gun control plan will allow state agencies and the Social Security Administration to provide certain “protected health information” to the F.B.I. to help crack down on weapons sales to people who pose a danger to themselves or others or are unable to manage their own affairs. ... 

“We are concerned about the implications of this rule,” said Jennifer Mathis, a lawyer at the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, an advocacy group for patients. “It points a finger inappropriately at people with mental illness as a source of gun violence. It’s a bad precedent to start creating exceptions to the privacy law for people with mental illness, who are responsible for about 4 percent of incidents of gun violence.” ...  

Under a rule to be developed by Social Security, the administration said the agency would provide information on “approximately 75,000 people each year who have a documented mental healthissue, receive disability benefits and are unable to manage those benefits because of their mental impairment, or who have been found by a state or federal court to be legally incompetent.” ... 

“No one’s psychotherapy notes are going to end up being disclosed because of this rule,” said Andrew Sperling, a lobbyist at the National Alliance on Mental Illness, an advocacy group for patients and their families. 

Dr. Paul S. Appelbaum, an expert on psychiatry and the law at Columbia University, said that the regulation “does not require or permit the reporting of any clinical information.” 

Dr. Renée L. Binder, president of the American Psychiatric Association, said the group did not see a threat to doctor-patient confidentiality. 

“We feel that people who are dangerous should not have access to guns,” Dr. Binder said. ... 

Jonathan M. Stein, a lawyer at Community Legal Services in Philadelphia who has won many court cases for Social Security beneficiaries with disabilities, called the Social Security component discriminatory. 

“The government is seizing on a group of people with serious mental illness who are unable to manage their money,” he said. “What does that have to do with any propensity for gun violence?”

     For the record, I strongly disagree with Ms. Mathis and Mr. Stein. I see no privacy or discrimination issue here. This list isn't going to be public. The greatest threat that this will address is suicide and that's no minor threat in the group who will be affected by this action. 

     By the way, Social Security still hasn't sent a proposal over to the Office of Management and Budget. At least, no proposal is showing up on the OMB website. If this is going to be finalized before President Obama leaves office, this needs to start moving pronto.

Social Security To Be Involved In Gun Control

     From a fact sheet on the President's initiative to reduce gun violence issued by the White House yesterday:

... The Social Security Administration has indicated that it will begin the rulemaking process to include information in the background check system about beneficiaries who are prohibited from possessing a firearm for mental health reasons. ...

Current law prohibits individuals from buying a gun if, because of a mental health issue, they are either a danger to themselves or others or are unable to manage their own affairs. The Social Security Administration (SSA) has indicated that it will begin the rulemaking process to ensure that appropriate information in its records is reported to NICS [National Instant Criminal Background Check System]. The reporting that SSA, in consultation with the Department of Justice, is expected to require will cover appropriate records of the approximately 75,000 people each year who have a documented mental health issue, receive disability benefits, and are unable to manage those benefits because of their mental impairment, or who have been found by a state or federal court to be legally incompetent. The rulemaking will also provide a mechanism for people to seek relief from the federal prohibition on possessing a firearm for reasons related to mental health. ...

     To this point, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) website doesn't show any proposed rulemaking pending review. OMB approval is required before Social Security can publish a Notice of Proposed Rule-Making (NPRM).

Oblique Response

     The Acting Commissioner of Social Security has sent a letter to the Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee responding obliquely to his request for information about whether the agency would be providing names of claimants with representative payees to other government agencies for use in determining capacity to obtain firearms. The Acting Commissioner says that Social Security isn't doing that now. She does not say whether there is a plan to do so in the future although she does say that no names would be provided merely because a claimant has a representative payee.

Republicans Want To Insure That People Who Are Actively Hallucinating Aren't Denied Access To Firearms

     Almost all of the Republican members of the House Ways and Means Committee (and none of the Democratic members) have signed a letter sent to the Acting Commissioner of Social Security opposing any plan to provide the names of Social Security recipients who have a representative payee to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System for purposes of limiting the ability of those who have been found incapable of handling funds to obtain firearms.

     You know, this sounds important to these Republicans. You know what's important to Democrats? Protecting the Social Security Disability Insurance Trust Fund. ... Just saying.