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GRIP Act proposed to protect gun owners
March 13, 2014
Second Amendment rights will get stronger under legislation recently co-sponsored by Idaho Senator Mike Crapo. The bill, introduced by Senator Thad Cochran (R-Mississippi), would prohibit any federal funding from being used to support a gun registry created and/or maintained by non-federal entities, including state and local governments.

“Idahoans are becoming increasingly concerned with the federal governments’ collection and storage of their private, personal information,” said Crapo. “Although current law prohibits the federal government from storing information acquired during the firearms background check process, there isn’t anything in place to keep federal funding from being used by non-federal entities to collect and store personally identifiable information related to the sale, purchase or ownership of a firearm. Storage of such information in so-called gun registries is simply a gross invasion of privacy for citizens lawfully practicing their constitutional right. It is essential that the federal government plays no role in such activities, and that taxpayer resources are used in a manner that is consistent with federal policy.”

The one-sentence Gun-owner Registration Information Protection Act, or GRIP Act, would reaffirm existing law that bars the federal government from storing information acquired during the firearms background check process.

The GRIP Act would also explicitly prohibit the use of any federal funding from being used to contribute to non-federal gun registries. The legislation does not include any limitations related to state recordkeeping for permitting, law enforcement-issued firearms or lost or stolen firearms.

The bill has been endorsed by the National Rifle Association and, in addition to Crapo, is being co-sponsored by 11 other senators, including: Roger Wicker (R-Mississippi), Richard Burr (R-North Carolina), Susan Collins (R-Maine), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Mike Enzi (R-Wyoming), Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma), Mike Johanns (R-Nebraska), Jerry Moran (R-Kansas), Pat Roberts (R-Kansas) and Marco Rubio (R-Florida).
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