Rule to keep severely mentally ill from buying guns gets nixed by House

Enlarge (credit: Yegor Aleyev )

The US House voted 235-180 on Thursday in favor of striking down an Obama-era rule intended to keep guns out of the hands of the severely mentally ill.

The rule would require the Social Security Administration to forward information about certain beneficiaries with mental health disorders to the FBI’s background check system. Beneficiaries affected would be those suffering with mental illnesses so severe that they require a representative to manage their finances for them.

The rule, originally slated to go into effect in December, is estimated to affect 75,000 beneficiaries. Those impacted could appeal through the courts to purchase a firearm, but not before their names were sent to the FBI, The Hill reports.