U.S. Representative Jack Bergman (R-Mich.) has introduced H.R. 45, the Firearm Industry Nondiscrimination (FIND) Act, into Congress with the backing of 38 co-sponsors. This proposed legislation, also supported by the NSSF, aims to prevent corporations from profiting off taxpayer-funded federal contracts while discriminating against the firearm industry, a sector protected under the Constitution.
“This legislation is critical to ensuring ‘woke’ corporations don’t use their financial might, funded by taxpayers, to deny essential services to the firearm industry,” said Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF Senior Vice President and General Counsel. “Corporations, particularly financial institutions, have been dictating public policies from boardrooms that throttle firearm businesses, which are Constitutionally protected. This bill will no longer allow those corporations to benefit from taxpayer dollars while at the same time using those funds to deny Americans their Second Amendment rights.”
The FIND Act would ensure that corporations engaging in anti-firearm policies cannot benefit from federal contracts and subcontracts funded by taxpayers. While the bill does not mandate with whom companies must conduct business, it aligns federal spending with fair business practices, ensuring taxpayer dollars are not used to support discriminatory policies.
For years, financial institutions and other corporate entities have employed what Keane described as “boardroom gun control,” using their influence to push policies that restrict the firearm industry’s ability to operate and undermine Americans’ Second Amendment rights. Corporations are free to hold anti-gun policies under the FIND Act but would have to forgo lucrative federal contracts if they choose to do so.
Similar laws have already been enacted in nine states. The FIND Act would extend those protections to the federal level, ensuring that the firearm industry can compete fairly in the marketplace without facing artificial, politically motivated barriers.
“This bill ensures fairness in business, reasserting Congress’s role in ensuring the federal government isn’t picking winners and losers in the marketplace based on politics,” Keane added.
H.R. 45 represents a significant step in pushing back against corporate practices that penalize the firearm industry while profiting from federal funding. The legislation underscores the importance of protecting Constitutionally guaranteed rights from discriminatory policies driven by private boardrooms.
