ICYMI: Major American Gun Makers Reportedly Handed Sensitive, Personal Customer Information to Political Operatives Without Their Knowledge or Consent, Everytown Responds

NEW YORK - Leading American gun makers were the subject of a major ProPublica exposé this week, which found at least ten gun industry businesses secretly handed over customer names, addresses and other sensitive information to lobbyists, who then used the details to rally firearm owners to elect pro-gun politicians.

The piece outlines how companies including Glock, Smith & Wesson, Remington, Marlin and Mossberg granted private data to the gun industry's chief lobbying group, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), without the knowledge or consent of their customers.

"For decades, gun rights groups have wielded far-right conspiracy theories around the ATF and FBI utilizing gun sales records to create a national database of gun owners. But these fears did not stop the NSSF from compiling personal gun owner information to be wielded for its own political gain," said Justin Wagner, Senior Director of Investigations at Everytown for Gun Safety. "The call is coming from inside the house - all gun owners should be outraged by this hideous breach of privacy by the gun industry. We will continue working to pull back the curtain on a rogue industry long overdue for accountability."

In 2022, Vice Presidential candidate and Senator J.D. Vance cited concerns to Fox News about a report on the Biden Administration tracking American firearm purchases. He stated, "this database is ultimately a back door to a gun registry in this country," and claimed it was about "destroying the Second Amendment."

Key findings from ProPublica's report include:

• At least 10 gun industry businesses handed over names, addresses and other private customer data to the NSSF, which then entered the gun owners' details into what would become a massive database.

• "The data initially came from decades of warranty cards filled out by customers and returned to gun manufacturers for rebates and repair or replacement programs." None of the cards disclosed that the information provided would be used by lobbyists or consultants for electoral purposes.

• While the NSSF has long positioned itself as an unwavering watchdog of gun owner privacy, the ProPublica investigation found that confidential information from gun customers was central to what the NSSF called its "voter education program."

• The initiative involved direct marketing aiming to persuade people to vote for candidates viewed as friendly by the firearms industry. According to ProPublica, "because privacy laws shield the names of firearm purchasers from public view, the data NSSF obtained gave it a unique ability to identify and contact large numbers of gun owners or shooting sports enthusiasts. It also allowed the NSSF to figure out whether a gun buyer was a registered voter."

• What's more, "in April 2016, a contractor on NSSF's voter education project delivered a large cache of data to Cambridge Analytica, a political consulting firm credited with playing a key role in Trump's narrow victory that year. The company later went out of business amid a global scandal over its handling of confidential consumer data."

• Cambridge Analytica combined the NSSF data with sensitive information obtained from commercial data brokers - including people's income, debts, religion, family details, some purchase history and more.

• "The information was used to create psychological profiles of gun owners and assign scores to behavioral traits, such as neuroticism and agreeableness. The profiles helped Cambridge tailor the NSSF's political messages to voters based on their personalities," according to the article.

The NSSF, the official trade association of the firearms industry, spends more money on lobbying than any other gun group. Like the NRA, the NSSF has worked to relax gun regulations and increase sales, despite threats to public safety. The NSSF even publicly withheld support for the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which provided resources for states to implement red flag laws and fund mental health services, and enhanced background checks for those under 21.

Through lobbying and litigation, the NRA, which claims to represent gun owners, and the NSSF, the official voice of the gun industry, both fight to loosen gun regulations and limit the government's ability to enforce those regulations already on the books, driving up the number of guns in the hands of American citizens. Both organizations have also pushed the gun world to the far right with dangerous, politically charged messaging that, in turn, drives more gun sales. But because the NRA is more outspoken - and receives the most attention and criticism of any gun group - the NSSF has largely gone unnoticed. A closer look into the NSSF can be found here.