Gun owners in America will soon have their personal and usually private information given out to “gun-violence researchers,” with Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom signing his Assembly Bill 173 into law recently.
The bill forces the California Dept. of Justice to hand over the information revealing firearm buyers to a research center located in the University of California or any other university that wants them, in any part of the country. These details include personal information like the purchaser’s name, address, date of birth, what, where, and when they bought their firearms, and a lot more.
“This bill declares the center for research into firearm-connected violence is the Firearm Violence Research Center,” the bill reads. “The bill would generally rule that the details above be given to the center and researchers connected to the center, and, at the dept.’s discretion, to any other nonprofit institution accredited by the U.S. Dept. of Education or the Council for Higher Education, as specified, for the purpose of studying the prevention of violence.”
California is already recording all gun and ammo transactions done by licensed firearm dealers inside a state registry, and the infrastructure for revealing personal data of firearm owners exists already. This law expands this record-keeping even more by forcing the registration of “firearm parts.” The registry will be given to Universities around the state.
The Reload news outlet reported that the top sponsor of the bill, Democratic Assemblymember Phil Ting, would not respond to request for comment.
Numerous pro-second amendment activists slammed the bill.
“Although the alleged intent of this law might be to stop violence, the data that the bill would need the DOJ to release includes the confidential and personal information of lawful gun owners who legally bought ammunition and firearms,” Roy M. Griffith Jr., Director at the California Pistol & Rifle Association, said in a message to Governor Newsom.
“The names and confidential information of people should only be given to law enforcement agencies when involving an investigation with a specific need for it. No other entity – not even research universities – have sufficient justification to get access to someone’s private information.”
Author: Blake Ambrose
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