February 18, 2026

NSSF Salutes VA Secretary Collins for Protecting Veterans’ Second Amendment Rights

WASHINGTON, D.C. — NSSF^®, The Firearm Industry Trade Association, salutes Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Secretary Doug Collins for protecting veterans’ Second Amendment rights by eliminating the policy of reporting veterans who require a fiduciary to assist in financial affairs to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) to be included as a prohibited person for purchasing or possessing a firearm.

Rolling back this three-decade-old policy has been a longstanding NSSF priority that unduly robbed veterans of their Second Amendment rights to keep and bear arms. Needing assistance organizing financial matters is not a prohibiting factor to deny any individual the ability to legally purchase or possess a firearm. No one — much less a law-abiding veteran — should have their ability to lawfully acquire a firearm at retail denied without due process.

“This is another example of the Trump administration upholding its promise to protect Second Amendment rights and the industry that makes those rights possible,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President & General Counsel. “This action taken by Secretary Collins to not only end the practice but restore those rights to veterans who were wrongfully reported to NICS as ‘prohibited’ reflects his commitment to veterans and the rule of law. NSSF is tremendously grateful to Secretary Collins for his leadership.”

Secretary Collins, working in consultation with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Department of Justice (DOJ) officials, rescinded the extrajudicial practice that denied veterans their Second Amendment rights through bureaucratic fiat. They both agreed, and NSSF concurs, that the practice of VA bureaucrats reporting veterans’ names as “prohibited persons” to FBI NICS violates the Gun Control Act (GCA) and the Second Amendment rights of those veterans who served and fought to protect those rights for all Americans.

NSSF continues to support and urges Congress to pass the Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. U.S. Rep. Mike Bost (R-Ill.), Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, along with Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R-Texas), introduced H.R. 1041, and Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), along with Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, introduced S. 478. The two pieces of legislation would ensure that a future administration cannot strip a veteran with a fiduciary of their rights to keep and bear arms without a judge or court ruling first that the veteran is a danger to themselves or their community.



About NSSF

NSSF is the trade association for the firearm industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of thousands of manufacturers, distributors, firearm retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations and publishers nationwide. For more information, visit nssf.org.

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