We are Veterans not Criminals

Today I am going to share a letter with you that will not likely see the light of day any where near the president, though it's addressed to him,from a Marine that I know well. He is less of a writer than I am but he asked me if I would clean this up a bit and then post it on my blog. I will gladly do so. This Marine has spent many years of his life serving his country in both war and peace, not that we have had much peace lately, and has seen more of combat and war than he would really want to see , if given the choice, but has done his duty in an honorable and commendable manner.
His letter addresses the the idea that at a stroke of a pen, Mr. Obama , has made it easier for doctors to submit information on anyone who is even asking about mental health issues to the national criminal back ground check for the intended purpose of possibly denying them the right to own and keep fire arms.


Dear Mr. President,
I recently found out that your administration, at the stroke of a pen, is trying to make it easier for doctors to violate their privacy oaths, not to mention the privacy act of 1974, in order to be able to submit names and information on any individual who even inquires about getting some mental health help to the “National Criminal Back Ground Check” data base for the purpose of keeping guns out of the hands of “potentially dangerous” individuals.
I must commend you for showing your hand so boldly and for somehow keeping this information out of most of the press. Very well played Mr. President.
But here is where this all falls apart. By doing this you have made absolutely sure that I, and many other combat veterans, will never set foot any where near a mental health facility. Where would be the incentive to do so? Many of us are gun owners. Why would I want to risk losing my rights? I have spent most of my life as a member of the armed forces and have been in more combat situations then I care to remember, I have defended the Constitution that you have sworn to uphold and have helped keep the proverbial wolf away from the door. What exactly is my crime? Nightmares? Getting uptight in a crowd? Being startled by loud noises? Of course , Mr. President, you would not understand, because you have never served.
I don't suppose though that I should truly be surprised. Your administration has done nothing for veterans and you have allowed for DHS, amongst others ,to label all of us combat veterans as “potential terrorists” while allowing real terrorists, The Muslim Brotherhood, access to you in the White House.
When you ran for office ,the first time, many of us war veterans were really hoping that you could actually bring about some hope and change. You said you were going to end the wars and while Iraq certainly has come to an end , for now anyhow, you have kept things going in Afghanistan, even going so far as trying to keep us there longer and have opened up new fronts in other countries bringing us closer to an even larger scale war and ,as a result, have created even more combat veterans ,of whom, you despise.
My humble advice to you is simple Mr. President. First end all the wars and conflicts we are involved with, then stop with this nonsense of putting honorable men and women at risk for mental health issues, who might otherwise go for help, if it wasn't for your idea to make their personal information available in a criminal back ground check.



We are Veterans not criminals.