(TNND) — Companion bills in the House and Senate are intended to protect Second Amendment rights for veterans.

The bills would prevent Veterans Affairs from reporting veterans’ names to the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System as part of some benefit-related actions.

Bill authors said the NICS reporting in those cases strips veterans of their Second Amendment rights to buy and own a gun without the due process afforded to other Americans.

They said the VA process resulting in the NICS reporting doesn’t include a court finding that the veteran is a danger to themselves or others.

“This bill is not about guns on demand,” Rep. Mike Bost, the chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, said at a Feb. 25 hearing. “It's about giving veterans the same due process as every other American."

Bost, a Republican from Illinois, sponsored the House bill.

Sen. John Kennedy, a Republican from Louisiana, sponsored the Senate version.

The House bill has over 50 Republican co-sponsors.

The Senate bill has over 15 Republican co-sponsors, including the chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

In some cases, VA will appoint a fiduciary to a veteran to help them manage their VA benefits and finances, Bost said.

The appointment of a fiduciary has nothing to do with a veteran being dangerous, Bost said.

But he said that doesn’t prevent the veteran from being reported to NICS, jeopardizing their gun rights.

“VA should not be able to take away a veteran’s Second Amendment rights without due process simply because they need help managing their finances,” Bost said at the hearing. “Veterans should not be treated any different than every other American citizen. We know this practice creates a stigma around accessing veterans’ critical VA care and services.”

Bost also said in a news release that he’s heard from veterans that VA’s current NICS reporting measures prevent them from seeking mental health care.

Jim Whaley, a 20-year Army veteran and the CEO of advocacy group Mission Roll Call, applauded the lawmakers for seeking a legislative change to this reporting requirement.

“Their Second Amendment rights are clearly violated, because a judge is never involved in that,” Whaley said. “It's an administrative action. So, I think everybody realizes that's not fair, especially for those that are defending our rights.”

The lobbying arm of the National Rifle Association said that hundreds of thousands of veterans who have been assigned fiduciaries have been reported by VA over the last 27 years to the NICS as “mental defectives,” thereby ending their legal rights to possess a gun.

“At the very best, it's been a mistake or a loophole,” Mission Roll Call’s Whaley said. “At the worst, it is administrative bureaucracy run amok.”

A VA official said at the House hearing that VA supports the Second Amendment protection bill.

The bill would require an evaluative consideration in addition to a VA incompetency decision to determine whether the veteran’s mental capacity warrants NICS reporting.

But the official noted that the bill wouldn’t remove or amend Justice Department policies and procedures when enforcing the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act.

The official said the Justice Department defines “mental defective” as any individual who lacks the mental capacity to contract or manage their own affairs.

“To avoid putting the veteran at risk of facing criminal liability when purchasing a firearm, VA recommends including legislative language that would clearly exempt an individual deemed incompetent for purposes of the VA fiduciary program from being considered a ‘mental defective’ as defined by DOJ,” Beth Murphy, the acting principal deputy undersecretary for benefits at VA, told lawmakers.

Kathleen McCarthy, the communications director for the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, told The National News Desk on Monday that a “temporary reporting fix” was included in last year’s Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act.

That temporary measure was set to expire last month but has been extended through the end of this fiscal year as part of the budget continuation President Donald Trump signed on March 15.

McCarthy said finding a permanent solution to the gun rights issue for veterans was a “top priority” for Bost and fellow House Republicans. She said they hope to take action on the House bill this spring.