HYDE-SMITH REINTRODUCES BILL TO PROHIBIT USE OF FEDERAL MONEY FOR STATE GUN REGISTRIES
Ten Senators Cosponsor GRIP Act to Protect Gun Owners’ Privacy Rights
WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) today reintroduced the Gun-owner Registration Information Protection Act (GRIP Act) to ensure federal funding cannot be used by states, localities, or any other organization to maintain gun registries.
The GRIP Act (S.351) would clarify existing law that prohibits the use of any federal funding by states or local entities for the storage or “listing” of sensitive, personal information related to the legal ownership or possession of firearms. The bill has been endorsed by the National Rifle Association (NRA).
“Federal law prohibits the government from tracking law-abiding gun owners and that ban extends to using federal dollars for such ill-advised activities on the local or state level. This legislation clarifies that point,” said Hyde-Smith, a lifetime member of the NRA. “It would ensure local gun control schemes don’t wrongfully exploit federal resources to track people who own or purchase firearms legally.”
Original cosponsors of the Hyde-Smith legislation include Senators Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.), Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), Mike Lee (R-Utah), Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska), and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.).
“The Second Amendment is one of the most important freedoms we have as Americans,” said Blackburn. “Our government should value the privacy of our civilians, and this bill ensures that federal funds cannot be used to encroach on a gun owner’s right to privacy.”
“The right to keep and bear arms, ultimately the right to self-defense, is a fundamental right that should not be stolen by any level of government. If enacted, the GRIP Act would ensure that no federal dollars are used for the creation of state-run gun owner databases. I will always fight any infringement on the Second Amendment every step of the way, and that includes fighting for the privacy rights of law-abiding gun owners,” Cramer said.
“I have been and will continue to be a defender of the right of the American people to keep and bear arms,” Enzi said. “This legislation helps prevent the personal information of law-abiding citizens from being used to infringe on their rights.”
“Law-abiding citizens should be free to exercise their Second Amendment rights without overly intrusive government interference. This bill will help to ensure that gun owners are not unlawfully tracked by any government,” said Ernst.
“As an avid hunter and lifelong firearm owner, protecting the rights of law-abiding gun owners is a priority of mine,” said Rounds. “In some states and cities around the country, local governments are seeking to limit the Second Amendment right to bear arms. The GRIP Act will clarify laws already on the books designed to make sure no federal funds are spent by states and local units of government to establish or maintain firearm databases.”
“The federal government has no business tracking law-abiding gun owners,” Wicker said. “I am glad to join my Senate colleagues in this effort, which will reinforce existing protections against using federal resources to store sensitive personal information about Americans who are exercising their Second Amendment rights.”
Chris W. Cox, executive director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action, added, “Senator Hyde-Smith has always worked to protect the rights of law-abiding gun owners, and the men and women of the National Rifle Association applaud her for her leadership in sponsoring this important piece of pro-Second Amendment legislation. This bill ensures that federal funding cannot be used to create and maintain gun registries – an issue of critical importance to NRA members and all gun owners.”
Under current law, the federal government may not store information acquired during the firearms background process. This legislation clarifies that this prohibition extends to the use of federal funds by states, localities, and other groups for the creation or maintenance of a full or partial gun registries.
The measure does not include any limitations related to state recordkeeping for permitting, law enforcement-issued firearms, or lost or stolen firearms.
A one-page summary of the GRIP Act is available here.
A copy of the legislation is available here.
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