FIREARM Act Would Stop Race-Data Collection on 4473’s

Reps. Diane Black (R-Tenn.) and Ted Poe (R-Texas) have reintroduced the Freedom From Intrusive Regulatory Enforcement of Arbitrary Registration Mandates (FIREARM) Act.

Black originally introduced the legislation in the last Congress, but is now reintroducing it since Republicans control the Senate. The bill would strike down the controversial policy of requiring gun dealers to submit information about the race and ethnicity of their customers.

Under the bill, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) could no longer collect racial data for gun transactions, as the agency has been doing when it changed Form 4473 in 2012.

“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,” Poe said in a statement. “Bottom line, if a law-abiding citizen is lawfully purchasing firearms, race and ethnicity are irrelevant.”

Black said in a statement, “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.”

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