s the Department of Commerce requesting sales records from Gun Holster companies ?

Recently a lot of controversy has been stirred up by the Census Bureau (which comes under the Department of Commerce) sending official notices to major gun holsters manufactures & sellers. Is the Census Bureau really going around and requesting sales records from gun holster companies.  These notices required the submission of details regarding the sales of holsters along with product descriptions and where the items were being shipped. This has come as a surprise to many especially those companies selling the gun holsters.

This information regarding gun holster sales were requested by the Census Bureau through the Commodity Flow Survey (CFS). The CFS is part of the Economic Census 2022 which is currently begin undertaken.

This is simply a method whereby the government uses the data obtained to estimate the purchases of a certain commodity by the intermediate or final users and it helps in guiding both management and future investment decisions for infrastructure especially those related to transportation.

However, the concerns being voiced by the pro-second amendments advocates is that unusual large number of requests have been sent to gun holster companies. Some critics are pointing out that there is a reason behind the Biden’s Administrations sudden interest in the sales of gun holsters. Despite the popular rhetoric about automatic rifles being the gun of choice in mass shootings, recently published statistics reveal that handguns were involved in approximately 75% of the mass shooting in the United States from 1982 – 2022.

The Census Bureau has stated that the gun holster companies are required to submit the details requested for in the survey. The Census Bureau website clearly states that CFS information collection is required by law and failure to submit the survey details may lead to prosecution of the concerned individuals along with penalties up to $5,000.

President Biden has been know to be firm against guns and helped enact laws to restrict firearm sales. Despite the introduction of background checks there are many loopholes in the system. Firearm sales from unlicensed private sellers, gun shows, online sales portals and between close family members are not subject to any background checks.

Critics of the Biden administration as well as pro gun lobbyists have even gone as far as saying that the government intends to maintain detailed information of firearm owners through gun holster purchases as a way of tracking those Americans who find loopholes in the current system. By gathering detailed information from companies selling gun holsters the government maybe trying to find people who plan to carry a gun without going through the procedure of obtaining a legitimate firearm.