The weapons group calls for an investigation into the participation of the firearms industry company for customer data

In submitting the application, weapons for safety He cited the achievement of ProPublica This is how details National Archery Foundation He delivered sensitive personal information about weapons buyers to political activists while presenting herself as a violent defender for the privacy of firearms owners. message – It was sent last week to the FBI, the Federal Trade Committee, the alcoholic office, tobacco, firearms and explosives – the name of the secret NSSF program, which spanned nearly two decades.

Malcolm Smith wrote: “The privacy of arms owners is not a party or ideological issue.” Weapons owners for safety member. “Regardless of the industry, the exploitation of private data for customers such as the size of their underwear and the ages of children in a secret scheme is worthy of denunciation and cannot be allowed.”

Weapons have been operated for safety since 2019 by the Arms Violence Organization JeffordsHe participated in its founding by Gabi Jeffords, the legislator in the state of Arizona who survived an assassination attempt in 2011. She has chapters in nine states and consisting of weapons owners and supporters of the second amendment who believe in what they call the “proper sense” to reduce weapons -related deaths such as safety locks and improve background tests.

the ATF I admit to receiving the message, but he has no other comment. the Federal Bureau of Investigationand FTC NSSF did not respond to ProPublica questions and suspension requests.

NSSF had previously defended the collection of its data, saying that its activities were, and it was always completely legal and within the terms and conditions of any individual factory, company, data broker or other entity. “The organization represents thousands of firearms manufacturers, ammunition, distributors and retailers, along with publishers and photography ranges. Although it is not known as the chief pressure groups of weapons owners, and the National Gunless Association, NSSF has respect and influence in commercial and political societies and weapons rights.

Senator Richard Blumentel, D-Kun, told Smith’s invitation to conduct an investigation. Last November, Blumentel was the head of a sub -committee in the Senate on privacy, NSSF request for details The companies that have contributed to the information group database have the type of customer details that have been shared and whether the data is still used. The commercial group did not answer the Senator questions.

“Collecting annoying data from NSSF raises dangerous concerns related to safety and privacy,” said Blumentel. “The American people deserve the answers.”

It is not clear how successful of any request for an investigation within the Trump administration, especially given the president’s previous political support for the president.

Investigation of Propublica It has identified at least 10 arms industry companies, including Glock, Smith & Wesson and Remington, which handed over more than hundreds of thousands of names, addresses and other special data – without customer knowledge or approval – to NSSF, which then entered the details to a huge database. The database has been used to mobilize electoral support for arms owners for the favorite candidates in this industry running for the White House and Congress.

Properblica privacy experts told the companies that exchange information with NSSF may violate federal ban and state governments against deceptive and unfair commercial practices. Under Federal Law, companies must comply with their privacy policies and be clear on how to use consumer information consumer, privacy experts said.

PROPUBLICA’s review of dozens of guarantee cards from these arms makers found that none of them reported that their details would be used for political purposes. (Most of the companies mentioned in NSSF documents refused to comment or did not respond to PROPUBLICA. One of the data has rejected the customer data, and the new mother company said another that it has no evidence of data sharing with NSSF under previous ownership.)

In 2016, as part of a batch to elect the president’s president’s election for the first time and to help the Republicans preserve the Senate, NSSF I worked with consulting Cambridge Analytica to accuse the information she had on potential voters. Cambridge match people in the database with 5,000 additional incidents about them that they were derived from other sources. the The details were far. Along with the income of potential voters, debt and religious affiliation, analysts learned whether they liked the work of the painter Thomas Kenkad and whether the women of the underwear that she bought were plus or small.

ProPublica has obtained a portion of the NSSF database that contains names, addresses and other information for thousands of people. ProPublica has reached 6000 people in the list. Almost all those who responded, including weapons owners, expressed their anger, surprise or disappointment from learning that they were in the database.

In his message in search of an investigation, Smith indicated that the new director of the Federal Investigation Office, Cash Patel, had spoken in favor of protecting the rights of weapons owners.

“So, then, Smith wrote,“ The FBI is aware of the importance of ensuring that there is no government organization or agency maintaining a secret database for firearms and weapons customers. It has also demonstrated many prominent breakthroughs and data leaks, can easily use private data and exploit them for great purposes.

Smith, a 69 -year -old retired CEO of JP Morgan and Republican Registered, told ProPublica that his love for guns started in adolescence when his father bought a Rimington rifle to hunt birds. Emotion over the years, and Smith began to collect weapons significantly in response to political efforts to restrict arms access.

Smith said: “Anytime I heard that Nancy Pelosi is not like anything, I felt that I had to get it,” Smith said.

But he joined Jeffords in 2020 after uncomfortable growth in arms rights circles. He recently said, the attempt by the Ministry of Governmental efficiency Hold Big quantities to Citizen data secret From the Social Security Administration, the Tax Authority inspired requesting government measures. (Doge officials did not respond to the request for comment.)

Smith said: “The initial disclosure of the National Shooting Foundation was a warning bell. But now this is a fire of four titles,” said Smith. ))