Crapo Joins ‘GRIP Act’ to Block State Gun Registries

Washington, D.C.--U.S. Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) has teamed up with U.S. Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Mississippi) and U.S. Representative Paul Gosar (R-Arizona) to continue a bicameral fight to prohibit states, localities or any other organization from using federal funding and background check information to maintain gun registries.

“Federal dollars should never be used to establish or maintain gun owner registries,” said Crapo. “This bill would protect the privacy and Second Amendment rights of lawful gun owners by strengthening existing federal law to make clear that no state or federal agency collecting federal tax dollars can use federal funds to compile and store sensitive personal information about legal firearm purchases.”

“The Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens remain imperiled as Democrats and anti-gun activists lean into government overreach,” said Hyde-Smith. “The GRIP Act is needed to clarify that states and localities cannot use federal funds or data to keep gun registries that can lead to infringing on a constitutional right.”

“The Second Amendment is not a second-class right,” said Gosar. “The GRIP Act safeguards constitutional freedoms and protects the privacy of millions of law-abiding Americans.”

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. Current law already prevents the federal government from storing information acquired during the firearms background check process.

The bill also clarifies that states and local entities cannot use federal grant funds from programs, such as the National Criminal History 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.

Original Senate co-sponsors of the measure include U.S. Senators Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-Louisiana), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming), Jim Justice (R-West Virginia), Ted Budd (R-North Carolina), John Cornyn (R-Texas), John Hoeven (R-North Dakota), Bill Hagerty (R-Tennessee), Steve Daines (R-Montana), Pete Ricketts (R-Nebraska), Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee).

The National Rifle Association and the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) endorse the GRIP Act.

A one-page summary of the GRIP Act is available here.

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