Overwhelming 81 Percent of Current and Former Military have Unfavorable View of Clinton

More bad news for Hillary Clinton. Coming off the heels of survey results that found the former Secretary of State trailing NRA  in favorability, and multiple other polls finding her to be untrustworthy, Clinton posted a truly woeful performance in a poll targeting one of our country’s most respected classes, active and former military personnel.

A poll conducted by Rasmussen Reports from October 28-November 2 asked 1,473 military adults, “Do you have a very favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable or very unfavorable impression of Hillary Clinton?” Of those surveyed, a mere 15 percent viewed Clinton favorably, while a whopping 81 percent viewed her unfavorably. Moreover, 69 percent have a “very unfavorable” opinion of Clinton. Contrarily, the military community has always made up a significant and indispensable portion of the NRA family.

While current and former service members could certainly find fault with Clinton for any number of reasons, Clinton’s positions on gun control are unlikely to help her cause. Her statements, and silence, on a pair of vital issues illustrate the severe disconnect between her and our servicemen and women.

A recent poll from Rasmussen found that 81 percent of active and retired service members favor allowing military personnel with concealed carry permits to exercise their Right-to-Carry at U.S. military installations. Only 15 percent opposed the policy. In the wake of the extremist attacks on military facilities in Chattanooga, Tenn. this past July, NRA called for policy changes that would allow our military to defend themselves from violence here at home.

In contrast, Clinton has made clear she is an opponent of the Right-to-Carry. Last May, Clinton told a crowd gathered for the national conference of the National Council for Behavioral Health, “[w]e’re way out of balance. I think that we’ve got to reign in what has become an almost article of faith that anybody can have a gun anywhere, anytime. And I don’t believe that is in the best interest of the vast majority of people.”

Recently Clinton’s campaign released her plans to reform the Department of Veterans Affairs, only weeks after claiming the problems regarding veteran healthcare plaguing the agency were not “as widespread as it has been made out to be.” We won’t comment on the veracity of those remarks, but notably absent from Clinton’s reforms are any plans to address the Department of Veterans Affairs’ unconscionable procedure for depriving VA beneficiaries of their Second Amendment rights.

Many times, the VA will appoint a fiduciary to handle a veteran’s VA benefits. Reasons for assigning a fiduciary could be as simple as convenience, or that the veteran has a little trouble managing their finances. The VA, in concert with the Department of Justice, interpret the assignment of a fiduciary to mean that the veteran has been “adjudicated as a mental defective.” The veteran’s name is supplied to FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) as prohibited from possessing firearms. This practice is a gross violation of these beneficiaries’ Second Amendment rights, their Fifth Amendment right to due process, and is a perversion of federal statute.

The current and former men and women of our armed forces have sacrificed much in order to defend all our rights, including Mrs. Clinton’s. She would do well to better respect theirs if she hopes to reverse these downright humiliating numbers.