Congressional Republicans want to end a policy they say makes thousands of veterans choose between financial help and their Second Amendment rights.

The Veterans 2nd Amendment Protection Act would block the Department of Veterans Affairs from sending any information about veterans seeking help with or managing their financial benefits to the Department of Justice to be added to databases used for criminal background checks.

Currently, the VA automatically sends a beneficiary’s name to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System whenever a fiduciary is appointed to help them manage their VA benefit payments because of a disability.

The Veterans Administration told a Congressional hearing last year that it is required to report veterans under the Brady Act when a veteran is determined to have a condition labelled “mentally defective”

Supporters of the bill to change the procedure say administrators at the VA decide on whether to appoint a fiduciary and 250,000 veterans have been stripped of their Second Amendment rights to legally purchase and own a firearm because of the rule.

“No veteran should have to choose between getting the help they need and preserving their constitutional rights,” Senator Paul said while signing on as a co-sponsor of the legislation on Monday. “The VA’s longstanding policy unfairly targets those who served our country, placing bureaucratic decisions above due process.”

The act includes an exception that allows the information to be released if a judge issues an order that the veteran is a danger to themselves or others.

“Our veterans should not receive less due process rights than other Americans just because they served our country and asked the federal government for a helping hand,” the bill’s main sponsor, Senator Kennedy, said.

Last year’s appropriations bill and two subsequent continuing resolutions temporarily suspended the practice  but Republicans say the legislation is needed to make it permanent.

Opponents of the legislation say the appointment of a fiduciary is part of a larger process to protect veterans, including those with a mental health crisis. The Brady Center, a gun control group, says the bill undercuts the federal background check system.

“It could prevent the VA from reporting individuals prohibited from possessing guns to NICS,” the Brady Center’s president, Kris Brown, said. “Making it virtually impossible to prevent veterans and other VA beneficiaries, many of whom are at great risk of dangerous behavior, from purchasing and possessing new firearms, a critical tool in reducing suicide risk.”

Several veterans groups, however, have voiced support for the legislation. The Vietnam Veterans of America called the current policy a “blotch” on the Constitution.

“To praise and thank us for our service and then strip us of our constitutional rights without due process is disingenuous, outrageous, and needs to be corrected,” Jack McManus, the group’s president, said.

54 Republicans have signed on as co-sponsors of similar legislation working its way through the House.