Equality State News

WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) cosponsored legislation to prohibit states, localities or any other organization from using federal funding to maintain gun registries. The Gun-owner Registration Information Protection (GRIP) Act will protect the Second Amendment rights of people in Wyoming by clarifying existing law that prohibits states or local entities from using federal funding to store or list sensitive, personal information related to the legal ownership or possession of firearms.  

“States and local entities should never collect the data of law-abiding gun owners to create a registry to track and store sensitive personal information of who owns a gun,” said Sen. Lummis. “Our right to bear arms is at risk under the Biden administration, and I will continue to fight to protect people in Wyoming from any attack on the Second Amendment.” 

While current law prevents the federal government from storing information acquired during the firearms background check process, the GRIP Act would ensure the federal government does not support, either intentionally or otherwise, state or local efforts to collect and store personally identifiable information related to legal firearm purchases and ownership. 

The bill also clarifies that states and local entities cannot use federal grant funds from programs such as the National Criminal Histories Improvement Program, NICS Amendment Records Improvement Program or the Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant Program to create or maintain full or partial gun registries. It would not limit states’ recordkeeping for permitting, law enforcement-issued firearms or lost or stolen firearms. 

The National Rifle Association, Gun Owners of America, National Association for Gun Rights and Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association support the GRIP Act. 

Original source can be found here.