Committee seeks judge's order before names of mentally incompetent vets sent to database

WASHINGTON — A House panel has approved legislation that would greatly curtail when veterans deemed mentally incompetent are reported to the FBI's background check system.

The move to winnow what records get placed into the database comes even as both sides of the gun-control debate have called for strengthening the background-check system.

Currently, the Department of Veterans Affairs automatically submits the names of those veterans who are deemed unable to handle their own financial affairs and have a fiduciary appointed to administer their benefits.

But the House Committee on Veterans Affairs approved legislation requiring a judge's order before a veteran's name is submitted to the database. Lawmakers said veterans who are not a threat to harm themselves or others should not be denied a constitutional right to buy and possess guns.

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