A 2012 move by the Obama administration requiring gun purchasers to tell the government their race and ethnicity when buying a firearm will be challenged by a new House bill.
Rep. Diane Black, R-Tennessee, announced at the National Rifle Association convention in Nashville that she and Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, will re-introduce the FIREARM (Freedom From Intrusive Regulatory Enforcement of Arbitrary Registration Mandates) Act to remove the requirement from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Form 4473,
Black's office reports.
Black said "law abiding citizens should never have to play 20 questions with Uncle Sam just to access their fundamental right to keep and bear arms. As a gun owner myself, I know that this is not only a Second Amendment concern, but also a privacy concern.
"The government has no legitimate reason to collect this information in the first place. That is why my bill would ban the ATF from requiring Americans to list their race or ethnicity in order to purchase a firearm."
Said Poe: "This requirement by the ATF is another example how this administration continually makes it harder for law-abiding citizens to possess firearms. Forcing citizens who are lawfully purchasing guns to disclose race and ethnicity with the threat of federal prosecution if they fail to disclose is completely unnecessary.
"Bottom line, if a law-abiding citizen is lawfully purchasing firearms, race and ethnicity are irrelevant. It is time to stop punishing those who are following the law."
Fox News reported that when ATF changed the forms, the category of "other" was removed, making it impossible for purchasers to refuse to self-identify their race or ethnicity.
Black, calling the questions "highly intrusive" and "unnecessary," said in a statement, "failing to adhere to this requirement by not checking all of the correct boxes on the 4473 Form is considered an ATF violation that can be so severe as to result in the gun dealer being shut down for having incomplete purchaser forms.
"This is causing a headache for many firearms retailers and this commonsense legislation would simply stop the federal government from requiring businesses and consumers to comply with this 'race and ethnicity standard.' "
Poe added: "Washington bureaucrats have no business requiring citizens who are lawfully purchasing firearms to disclose their race or ethnicity. Under this rule, both gun dealers and purchasers face the threat of federal prosecution for not disclosing race or ethnicity on a form. This is an intrusive and unnecessary requirement. As long as the gun is purchased lawfully, race or ethnicity should be irrelevant."
Evan Nappen, a firearms attorney in New Jersey, told
The Washington Times: "This issue concerns me deeply because, first, it's offensive, and, secondly, there's no need for it. What this indicates is it was done for political reasons, not law enforcement reasons."
Chris Stone, director of federal affairs for Gun Owners of America, endorsed the bill, noting in a letter to Black: "By now, Americans are all too familiar with the Obama administration's underhanded and unlawful efforts to expand its authority by regulatory fiat. It should be of interest to both conservatives and liberals that this law enforcement agency is snooping into the racial and ethnic identity of gun owners without cause."
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