Why aren't military/veterans the first to advocate for mental health screenings for gun ownership?

Military/Vets may be too busy fighting our Nation's wars or working and taking care of their families and communities? But that's maybe just a guess. I'll tell ya in my travels since retirement I've found a VERY HIGH percentage of Law Enforcement and first responders to be Veterans or military retirees. I'd be interested to see those statistics nationally. On a personal note, I've had those diagnosis by Army, VA and other 'health professionals' noting PTSD/Combat-related stress, etc. BUT I've never thought of going on a shooting spree or even slightly harming anyone unless they personally attacked me or a loved one. I actually do buy that ol' adage “the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is with a good guy with a gun.” It would be a mistake to disarm or ban vets from owning weapons because they have sought counseling for wartime experiences. Although that isn't the question here per say, it does occur to me now that a small segment of our society may seek to disarm Vets. Also, it seems to me we have tons of gun laws and restrictions already on the books that aren't enforced now. OFTEN numerous red flags for violent nutjobs w/guns are being ignored by those in authority. Florida being possibly the worst case with the school/Sheriff's Office/FBI all flubbing up. Hooah. I'll pull my soap box back under my desk now. Drive on and God bless all of you Patriots. I look forward to your responses. Cheers to you, SSG (Join to see). Great topic for discussion.

Because the government has already decided that military veterans have mental problems.
PTSD is a mental problem.

And screen for what? Define "mental health?" Who gets to decide what constitutes a reason to strip someone of their rights?

Key to the question is a person that has already showed mental health problems otherwise screening to see if they do seems quite and intrusion. It does seem though in many case there has already been problems that indicate that a person is a risk and its ignored. If the warning signs by already documented mental health problems by behavior that has already been displayed it seems then negligence by official inaction has cost lives. The laws that are already in place need to be enforced !

What is a "mental health hazard"?

Because there are already laws that cover that.

Amen Brother, having knowledge about safe gun handling is a prerequisite for owning a gun, having bought the gun when they were mentally healthy, does not mean when you are having mental health issues that you have the right to keep guns previously purchased. You may have the right to sell and keep the profit, but not to keep the guns!

I'm honestly unsure of what you mean. Every veteran I know is a very big supporter of mental health screenings because we understand a lot of these gun issues won't be solved by more gun laws, but by enforcing already established laws.

The focus should be on getting people the help they need and reducing the stigma surrounding mental health. That being said though, we can't go in and start confiscating guns based on a mental health questionnaire. That would be too broad and not address actual mental health issues. Do we punish someone because they said they felt depressed once when they were 16? No of course not, because everyone has probably felt depressed at one point in time... especially as a teenager.

If people feel like they will be punished based on the answers they provide, then people will start lying about the answers they provide and then we're not helping anyone.

I'm against more anti-gun laws. When the restrictions that are already in place are not being enforced, additional measures are not going to help. (See definition of insanity.) Additionally, adding new measures which take into account PTSD, or other parallel mental health concerns, you start letting the government dabble in restricting arms to some of the country's truest patriots. One then would have to ask why? ... These would be indicators towards a dictatorial governance, instead of a liberty-based governance. More gun restrictive laws are not going to help while current ones are not followed. Change my mind.

Who sets the standard and who will make sure those standards aren’t being abused. I know several liberals that think people who own guns are already suffering from a mental defect.