WASHINGTON, DC – The Department of Veterans Affairs announced February 17 that it will immediately stop reporting veterans to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) solely because they require assistance managing their VA benefits through a fiduciary.
According to the VA, the policy change corrects what the department described as a decades-old practice that improperly restricted the constitutional rights of many veterans enrolled in the VA’s Fiduciary Program.
Under the previous system, veterans who were assigned fiduciaries to help manage financial benefits could be reported to NICS as prohibited persons, preventing them from legally purchasing or possessing firearms. Following a review conducted in consultation with the Department of Justice, the VA determined that the practice lacked proper legal justification.
Federal law requires a determination by a judicial or quasi-judicial authority before an individual can be reported to NICS as prohibited from firearm ownership. The VA concluded that assigning a fiduciary to assist with financial management does not meet that legal threshold.
The department stated that many veterans had been reported without hearings or sufficient findings that they posed a danger to themselves or others. As a result, the VA will not only halt future reporting under this standard but will also work with the FBI to remove prior fiduciary-based entries from the background check system.
VA Secretary Doug Collins said the change ensures veterans receive the same constitutional protections and due process afforded to other Americans.
“Many Americans struggle with managing their finances, and Veterans’ Second Amendment rights shouldn’t be stripped just because they need help in this area,” Collins said in the announcement.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi confirmed the Department of Justice supports the action and announced that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms has been directed to review regulations and propose changes aimed at preventing similar violations in the future.
The VA characterized the decision as restoring rights that had been limited for roughly three decades without sufficient legal basis.
For veterans and gun owners, the announcement highlights the role due process plays in determining firearm prohibitions under federal law. The change reinforces that administrative assistance programs alone are not equivalent to legal findings of dangerousness, aligning firearm restrictions more closely with established judicial standards.
