US House of Representatives vote to strike down Obama-era gun regulation

The United States House of Representatives led by the Republican Party voted on Thursday, (2 February) to strike down an Obama-era regulation, which prohibited some disabled social security recipients who could not manage their own affairs from buying guns.

The House voted 235-180 for the regulation to be repealed and was reportedly a part of efforts to strike down regulations instituted by Obama in his final months.

The regulation required for the Social Security administration to report people who received disability benefits and were judged mentally incapable of managing their own finances to the FBI's background check system. It was put in place to prevent mentally ill individuals from buying guns but critics said the net was cast too wide.

The National Rifle Association opposed the regulation for more than a year and said it was "back door gun grab".

While it was unpopular with gun rights advocates, disability advocates also voiced opposition to relating inability to manage financial affairs to the inability to legally buy a gun. Some supporters of the rule argued it was necessary to keep guns away from people with illnesses such as schizophrenia and anxiety.

Representative Kevin Brady (R-Texas) said: "The Social Security Administration not only overstepped its mission with this regulation, it discriminated against certain Americans with disabilities who receive Social Security benefits. The agency should be focused on serving all of its beneficiaries, not picking and choosing whose Second Amendment rights to deny."

Democrats said that repealing the rule will lead to more gun violence. "The American people and the families that are being hurt day after day by gun violence — they deserve some due process too," Representative Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) said.

Republicans are using the Congressional Review Act to strike down regulations put in place by Obama, CNN reported.