A bipartisan group of members of Congress is pushing a law that would stop the requirment for gun buys to disclose race and ethnicity. The effort is being led by Senators Roy Blunt, Mike Enzi, and Joe Manchin, a Democrat.
“U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) today introduced the Freedom From Intrusive Regulatory Enforcement of Arbitrary Registration Mandates Act (FIREARM Act), which would prohibit the federal government from requiring Americans to disclose their race or ethnicity in connection with the purchase of a firearm. In 2014, it was reported that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) implemented a change to Form 4473, requiring firearm purchasers to disclose both their race and ethnicity,” Blunt’s office says in a press release.
The press release quotes the senators:
“The ATF does not need to know your race or ethnicity. The right to own firearms is an individual right guaranteed to Americans by the Second Amendment,” Enzi said. “This bill would protect that fundamental right by ensuring that the federal government could not require you to disclose your race or ethnicity in connection with the purchase of a firearm.”
“There is no reason that the federal government should require a law-abiding gun owner to list their race or ethnicity before they be granted their constitutional right to own a firearm,” Manchin said. “I am pleased to join my colleagues on this bipartisan bill to remove yet another unnecessary regulation on legal and law-abiding gun owners.”
