The article details how the “industry group assembled data on this collection of gun owners and others without their knowledge or consent to persuade them to vote in the industry’s interests.”

“The details were far-ranging and intimate. Along with the potential voters’ income, debts and religious affiliation, analysts learned whether they liked the work of the painter Thomas Kinkade and whether the underwear women had purchased was plus size or petite.” Shaaaaady.

Larry Keane, the industry’s top lobbyist who posts public screeds about the sanctity of customer privacy, was caught secretly negotiating to exploit the same people’s data to elect political allies. But perhaps the duplicity is not surprising for someone who mocks customers who both own guns and support laws to keep them away from criminals as “fudds.” (In the weird Proud Boys/tacti-bro circles, likening someone to Elmer Fudd is seen as the most savage of burns.)

At the very least, such efforts should be disqualifying for Keane’s rumored consideration to serve as Trump’s ATF director.

Unlike the astroturf gun organizations that pretend to care about gun owners but actually exist to boost profits for CEOs, GIFFORDS Gun Owners for Safety understands that an overwhelming majority of gun owners want laws to protect innocent lives from bad actors. In fact, a whopping 89% of gun owners—and 91% of Trump voters—support background checks on all gun sales. 

The industry knows it has lost the argument among the public, so it resorts to desperate plays like those detailed in ProPublica. Read the whole story: “Gun Lobbyists and Cambridge Analytica Weaponized Gun Owners’ Private Details for Political Gain.”