Gun Owners Sue NSSF Over Unauthorized Use of Data for Political Ads
Two gun owners, Daniel Cocanour and Dale Rimkus, have filed a lawsuit against the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF). They allege that the foundation used their personal information, provided when registering firearms, to build a database for political advertising without consent.
The NSSF began compiling this database in 1999, following the Columbine High School shooting. It gathered information from warranty cards submitted by gun owners to manufacturers. By 2001, the database had grown to over 5.5 million records.
The foundation claimed that its advertising using this database was crucial to George W. Bush's 2000 presidential victory. It obtained data from major manufacturers without customers' consent for political purposes. Before the 2000 election, Cabela's shared information on 356,000 customers with an NSSF group, which mailed political ads to 2.5 million people.
The lawsuit seeks class-action status and damages in excess of $5 million on behalf of gun owners nationwide. The plaintiffs, the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence and Everytown for Gun Safety, aim to challenge and seek accountability for the foundation's alleged role in promoting gun violence.
The plaintiffs argue that the NSSF benefited from using gun owners' information without paying for it. The lawsuit alleges that the foundation's actions violated privacy laws and undermined gun owners' trust. The outcome of this case could set a precedent for how gun owners' data is used in the future.
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