There’s only one way ... be a felon.
It takes three minutes to get past the “Are you suicidal” messages when you try to cal the VA to check an appointment.
At first I thought they were just showing careful concern. Then, after getting the same questions from nurses & doctors, I began to get suspicious.
If they really cared about Veterans with thoughts of suicide, then the intro phone remarks would say “Press 7 now” rather than “call 800-555-1212 and ask to speak to your mental health representative” or some such long & involved process.
The scenario is that often a veteran needs someone to receive benefits on their behalf. This person is called a "designated payee". The Obama administration has decided to treat Veterans receiving benefits and that rely on a designated payee as if they were adjudicated as a mental defective and deem them a prohibited persons under 18 USC 922(g)(4).
There are no hearings just an executive order making a broad determination as to the condition of the Veteran and thus no due process thus a violation of the Veterans rights under the Fifth Amendment. 18 USC 922(g): It shall be unlawful for any person
(1) who has been convicted in any court of, a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;
(2) who is a fugitive from justice;
(3) who is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802));
(4) who has been adjudicated as a mental defective or who has been committed to a mental institution;
(5) who, being an alien
(A) is illegally or unlawfully in the United States; or
(B) except as provided in subsection (y)(2), has been admitted to the United States under a nonimmigrant visa (as that term is defined in section 101(a)(26) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(26)));
(6) who has been discharged from the Armed Forces under dishonorable conditions;
(7) who, having been a citizen of the United States, has renounced his citizenship;
(8) who is subject to a court order that
(A) was issued after a hearing of which such person received actual notice, and at which such person had an opportunity to participate; (B) restrains such person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner of such person or child of such intimate partner or person, or engaging in other conduct that would place an intimate partner in reasonable fear of bodily injury to the partner or child; and(C);
(i) includes a finding that such person represents a credible threat to the physical safety of such intimate partner or child; or
(ii) by its terms explicitly prohibits the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against such intimate partner or child that would reasonably be expected to cause bodily injury; or
(9) who has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence,
to ship or transport in interstate or foreign commerce, or possess in or affecting commerce, any firearm or ammunition; or to receive any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.