Cyber Snooping On Gun Owners

by
posted on October 15, 2013
** When you buy products through the links on our site, we may earn a commission that supports NRA's mission to protect, preserve and defend the Second Amendment. **
on-guard_F.jpg

There’s nothing funny about the NSA collecting contact lists and information from Internet sites, so pardon my lack of humor. Americans are being targeted, and the administration signed a U.N. Gun Treaty with serious ramifications to the Second Amendment last month.

The sky isn’t falling, but the cloud cover is getting pretty low for gun owners. No one in their right mind cares if the NSA can efficiently mine the Internet for information that could stop a terrorist attack, but it doesn’t take a brain surgeon to figure out one of the keyword searches they’re using is “firearm.”

OK, the offshore sites doing this may have turned up my post about the antique Stevens shotgun I inherited. Odds are good the “lead” would have been deleted, unless of course it hit the desk of someone who doesn’t know guns, or a person in a bad mood, or an overworked snoop who missed the delete key while scouring 44,000 e-mail addresses from Yahoo on that single day.

I don’t have much to hide, so I’m not overly concerned. But then again, I don’t have plans to vacation in any of our anti-gun NATO ally nations-who for all I know will have unlimited access to cyberspace’s mother lode. But when a parent’s innocent firearm-related post on Facebook  results in a visit from child protective services, it may be time to rethink some things.

Do I really want a snot-nosed, wet-behind-the-ears kid whose sole claim to fame is top-score in Tetris trying to figure out if my 100-year-old 12-gauge shotgun should be of concern? I haven’t quite figured that one out yet.

On one hand it scares me. No more annual holiday cards with the grandkids guarding the house while wearing reindeer camo. No more hunting photos, new gun announcements, ammo shortage complaints or sharing of the daily prayer. Let’s face facts: Privacy settings are just a suggestion to government hackers.

On the other hand, I think it’s too late for me. If you’re in the same boat, why not annoy the heck out of them with so much garbage it makes their heads spin, like on the Exorcist-odd that movie comes to mind right now.

Latest

TNW Firearms ASR 1911
TNW Firearms ASR 1911

Review: TNW Firearms ASR 1911

Reliable pistol-caliber carbines, especially with quick-caliber-change capability, are fun, and the ASR 1911 from TNW Firearms is one of the most unique of the bunch.

GOEX Resumes Black Powder Production

Voyager Technologies announced on Sept. 8 that the GOEX plant in Camp Minden, La.—the sole black powder manufacturing facility located in the United States—has been modernized and is back in production.

NRA-ILA Names SIG SAUER Official Partner of the 2026 NRA Gun Bus Battleground Tour

New Hampshire-based firearms and weapons-systems maker joins NRA-ILA on the road.

Today’s Makers of Yesterday’s Firearms

Original firearms from the American Revolution era are valuable and best preserved for posterity. For those who want to shoot them, several modern makers offer quality reproductions.

Left Turn (Bolt): Tikka's New Left-Handed T3x Ace Rifles

Lefties of the world unite and rejoice, as Tikka has announced left-hand versions of its award-winning T3x Ace chassis rifles.

The Armed Citizen® Sept. 14, 2026

Read today's "The Armed Citizen" entry for real stories of law-abiding citizens, past and present, who used their firearms to save lives.

Interests



Get the best of American Rifleman delivered to your inbox.