{"id":17498,"date":"2025-05-01T04:28:47","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T04:28:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/gun-group-demands-probe-into-secret-data-sharing\/"},"modified":"2025-05-01T04:28:47","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T04:28:47","slug":"gun-group-demands-probe-into-secret-data-sharing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/gun-group-demands-probe-into-secret-data-sharing\/","title":{"rendered":"Gun Group Demands Probe Into Secret Data Sharing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/p>\n

This story was originally published by ProPublica.<\/em><\/p>\n

ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter<\/a> to receive stories like this one in your inbox<\/em>.<\/p>\n

A group representing firearms owners has requested that three federal agencies investigate the gun industry\u2019s main lobbying group for secretly using intimate details of weapons buyers for political purposes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

In making this request, Gun Owners for Safety cited a ProPublica investigation<\/a> that revealed how the National Shooting Sports Foundation<\/a> shared sensitive personal information on gun buyers with political operatives while presenting itself as a fierce advocate for the privacy of firearms owners. The letter<\/a> \u2014 sent last week to the FBI, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives \u2014 described the NSSF\u2019s secret program, which spanned nearly two decades, as \u201cunderhanded.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGun owners\u2019 privacy is not a partisan or ideological issue,\u201d wrote Malcolm Smith, a Gun Owners for Safety<\/a> member. \u201cNo matter the industry, exploiting customers\u2019 private data, such as their underwear size and children\u2019s ages, in a secret scheme is reprehensible and cannot be permitted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gun Owners for Safety, operated by the gun violence prevention organization Giffords<\/a> since 2019, has chapters in nine states and consists of gun owners and Second Amendment supporters who advocate for \u201ccommon sense\u201d measures to reduce gun-related deaths, such as safety locks and improved background checks on firearm purchases.<\/p>\n

The ATF<\/a> acknowledged receiving the letter but had no other comment. The FBI<\/a>, FTC<\/a>, and NSSF did not respond to ProPublica\u2019s questions and requests for comment.<\/p>\n

The NSSF previously defended its data collection, stating that its \u201cactivities are, and always have been, entirely legal and within the terms and conditions of any individual manufacturer, company, data broker, or other entity.\u201d The organization represents thousands of firearms and ammunition manufacturers, distributors, and retailers, as well as publishers and shooting ranges. While not as well-known as the National Rifle Association, the NSSF is respected and influential in business, political, and gun-rights communities.<\/p>\n

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., expressed agreement with Smith\u2019s call for an investigation. Last November, Blumenthal, then chair of a Senate subcommittee on privacy, asked the NSSF for details<\/a> on the companies contributing information to the trade group\u2019s database, the type of customer details shared, and whether the data is still being used. The trade group did not answer the senator\u2019s questions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe NSSF\u2019s disturbing, covert data collection raises serious safety and privacy concerns,\u201d Blumenthal said. \u201cThe American people deserve answers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The success of any request for an investigation under the current administration is uncertain, especially given the NSSF\u2019s past political support for the president.<\/p>\n

ProPublica\u2019s investigation<\/a> identified at least 10 gun industry businesses, including Glock, Smith & Wesson, and Remington, that handed over hundreds of thousands of names, addresses, and other private data \u2014 without customer knowledge or consent \u2014 to the NSSF, which then entered the details into a massive database. The database was used to rally gun owners\u2019 electoral support for the industry\u2019s preferred candidates running for the White House and Congress.<\/p>\n

Privacy experts told ProPublica that companies sharing information with the NSSF may have violated federal and state prohibitions against deceptive and unfair business practices. Under federal law, companies must comply with their own privacy policies and be clear about how they will use consumers\u2019 information, according to privacy experts.<\/p>\n

A ProPublica review of dozens of warranty cards from those gun-makers found that none of them informed buyers that their details would be used for political purposes. (Most of the companies named in the NSSF documents declined to comment or did not respond to ProPublica. One denied sharing customer data, and the new parent company of another said it had no evidence of data sharing with the NSSF under prior ownership.)<\/p>\n

In 2016, as part of a push to get Donald Trump elected president for the first time and to help Republicans keep the Senate, the NSSF worked with the consultancy<\/a> Cambridge Analytica to enhance the information it had on potential voters. Cambridge matched up the people in the database with 5,000 additional facts about them drawn from other sources. The details were far-ranging<\/a>. Along with the potential voters\u2019 income, debts, and religious affiliation, analysts learned whether they liked the work of the painter Thomas Kinkade and whether the underwear women had purchased was plus size or petite.<\/p>\n

ProPublica obtained a portion of the NSSF database containing the names, addresses, and other information of thousands of people. ProPublica reached out to 6,000 people on the list. Almost all of those who responded, including gun owners, expressed outrage, surprise, or disappointment over learning they were in the database.<\/p>\n

In his letter seeking an investigation, Smith noted that the FBI\u2019s new director, Kash Patel, has spoken out in favor of protecting gun owners\u2019 privacy rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cSurely, then,\u201d Smith wrote, \u201cthe FBI understands the importance of ensuring no organization or government agency maintains a secret database of firearm customers and gun owners. As many high-profile hacks and data leaks have shown, private data can easily be mishandled and exploited for nefarious purposes.<\/p>\n

Smith, a 69-year-old retired executive of J.P. Morgan bank and registered Republican, told ProPublica his love of guns started as a teen when his father bought him a Remington rifle for bird hunting. The passion intensified over the years, and Smith started collecting guns heavily in response to political efforts to restrict gun access.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnytime I heard Nancy Pelosi not like something, I felt like I had to have it,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

But he joined Giffords in 2020 after growing uncomfortable with extremism in gun rights circles. More recently, he said, the Department of Government Efficiency\u2019s attempt to grab<\/a> large amounts<\/a> of confidential citizen data<\/a> from the Social Security Administration and IRS inspired his request for government action. (DOGE officials did not respond to a request for comment.)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe initial disclosures about the National Shooting Sports Foundation were an alarm bell. But now this is a four-alarm fire,\u201d Smith said. \u201cWe\u2019re supposed to have some sort of privacy in our lives, and apparently, the NSSF decided I didn\u2019t have to have it. And DOGE really thinks I\u2019m not entitled to it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n
Source Link<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This story was originally published by ProPublica. ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":17499,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[5058],"class_list":["post-17498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-guns"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/9\/2025\/05\/569259510943ff9bda16d54922a71ee7.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17498","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17498"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17498\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17498"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17498"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fusionmindlabs.com\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17498"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}