Senate-passed VA funding bill risks fueling more tragedies like Montana bar killings

WASHINGTON — GIFFORDS, the national gun violence prevention group led by former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, released the following statement on the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs (MilCon-VA) appropriations bill passed by the Senate. Buried in the bill is a provision preventing the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) from ensuring the highest risk veterans are prevented from accessing guns that they could use to kill themselves and others. Further consideration after Congress’s August recess will follow the tragedy this past weekend in Montana where a veteran with known mental health issues killed four people. Police are still searching for the gunman.

“Four people were just murdered, and the Senate has made similar shootings much more likely by forcing the Department of Veterans Affairs to sit on its hands while individuals in mental health crises access guns. Those who fought for our country and suffered unseen wounds deserve our compassion and our care—knowingly putting them and their families at risk helps no one,” said GIFFORDS Executive Director Emma Brown. “It’s not too late for Congress to do the right thing for veterans and their communities. We can both protect our veterans’ rights and protect them and their communities—this bill does neither.”

The Fiscal Year 2026 Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies Appropriations bill that passed out of the Appropriations Committee prohibits the Department of Veterans Affairs from contributing relevant information to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), which is the background check system used for gun purchases, significantly weakening the system’s ability to prevent gun violence. Previously, some veterans, including those experiencing a mental health crisis, had their names submitted to NICS in order to prevent easy access to firearms. According to the latest National Veteran Suicide Prevention Annual Report from the Veterans Administration, more than 17 veterans died by suicide each day in 2021.