For years, the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the gun industry’s trade association, collected sensitive personal information of gun buyers from its members — some of the country’s largest gun makers and sellers — for political purposes, according to a new report by the journalism non-profit ProPublica.
The outlet reported that the NSSF amassed a database of hundreds of thousands of gun owners by collecting customer data from at least 10 companies, including Glock, Smith & Wesson, Remington, Marlin, Mossberg, Cabela’s, and others. According to the report, the database, which was initially started in 1999 using data “from warranty cards filled out by customers and returned to gun manufacturers rebates and repair or replacement programs,” was used to “rally firearm owners to elect pro-gun politicians.”
sharing personal information
ProPublica established the NSSF’s secret database — alleged in this January 2023 report on the organization — by “reviewing tens of thousands of internal corporate and NSSF emails, reports, invoices and contracts.”
Experts who reviewed the NSSF’s internal documents about the database told ProPublica that such actions could have legal consequences because the information was initially collected through warranty cards, many of which promised confidentiality to customers.
Jon Leibowitz, who served on the Federal Trade Commission under both President George W. Bush and President Barack Obama, told ProPublica that firearms companies sharing the information could be considered unfair or deceptive business behavior under state and federal laws.
“This is super troubling. You shouldn’t take people’s data without them knowing what you’re doing with it — and give it or sell it to others. It is the customer’s information, not the company’s,” Leibowitz said.
selling out gun owners
The NSSF’s database is highly ironic given that the organization has repeatedly railed against government and corporate attempts to learn more about gun owners, alleging that the information could be used to create a registry “akin to a watchlist” and the “first step to confiscation.” In recent years, the NSSF has even lobbied for laws that prevent credit card companies from creating special merchant category codes for firearm dealers, alleging that the data would create a registry of gun owners.
In September 2022, NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel Larry Keane said that “a registry of gun owners maintained by private corporations” would be “concerning the same way a government database would be concerning.”
In response to the allegations, the NSSF defended its actions and denied any wrongdoing, saying that its activities are “entirely legal and within the terms and conditions of any individual manufacturer, company, data broker, or other entity.” An open question that the news reporting, and NSSF’s vague response, leaves unanswered is whether this customer data is still being utilized by the NSSF or other entities for election work. For their part, most of the companies involved either didn’t respond to ProPublica’s questions or declined to comment, saying they didn’t have any evidence of sharing customer data.