By Lee Williams
For a few hours Friday, the leadership of the Civilian Marksmanship Program, or CMP, appeared to have lost their minds. It’s either that or the storied nonprofit – which can trace its lineage back to 1903 when Teddy Roosevelt created the National Board for the Promotion of Rifle Practice – had been taken over by anti-gun Californians.
At around 11 a.m., the CMP sent the following email to its thousands of subscribers and customers:
“Due to a new Bill in California, CMP cannot send out email communications to our subscribers without having your full address and birthday in our email database. Please click on the ‘Update Profile’ link in the footer of this email to update your contact details. CMP will continue to send out emails to only those subscribers that have completed their profile. We will also post updates on our Facebook page and our website. Thank you!”
As you can imagine, the mere suggestion that their names, dates of birth, addresses and other personal information could end up in the inboxes of anti-gun bureaucrats in California did not sit well with CMP’s customer base.
Reaction was swift, especially on CMP’s Facebook page.
“Take your government bootlicker spy network and shove it. Gun grabbing California lefturds don’t dictate to me,” one man wrote.
“I would not have been the least bit surprised at such idiocy coming from Kalifornia, but I will say that any competent IT department would only need to know that level of information for subscribers IN Kalifornia,” wrote another.
One subscriber speculated that someone at CMP may have been confused by a bill making its way through the California legislature, AB2273, which would require websites to verify the age of every user before allowing them access. However, the bill has not yet been signed into law.
CMP’s subscribers had a legitimate reason to be concerned about the security of their personal information, since just two months earlier California’s Attorney General “accidentally” and on purpose leaked the data of thousands of CCW permittees living in the Golden State.
Who’s to say if he got similar information from folks in other states he wouldn’t “accidentally” and on purpose leak that too?
Never mind
A few hours after the first email was sent, Mark Johnson, CMP’s Director of Civilian Marksmanship, sent another message, which retracts the first:
“CMP made a mistake. We do not need our customer phone numbers, addresses or dates of birth. My sincere apologies, Mark Johnson, DCM”
Johnson offered no explanation or statement about the incident, other than acknowledging that CMP had made a mistake.
Johnson did not immediately return calls or emails seeking his comments for this story.
Takeaways
The CMP is a good organization. Through its stores, scholarships, clinics and matches, it accomplishes its mission of teaching riflery – especially to our youth – while promoting safety and target practice.
However, what separates a good organization from a great one is how its leadership comport themselves during a crisis, and for a few hours Friday, the CMP was hip-deep in a crisis apparently of its own making.
Johnson and/or the CMP board need to let us know exactly what happened and what steps they’re taking to make sure it never, ever happens again.
They also need to tell their customers what they plan to do with any personal information they received after the first email was sent.
This is a time for the CMP to be fully transparent. It’s the right thing to do. It’s what Teddy would expect.
The Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project wouldn’t be possible without you. Click here to make a tax deductible donation to support pro-gun stories like this.
This story is part of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Journalism Project and is published here with their permission.
We must make it clearly heard across the nation, California does not dictate policy to the other 49 states.
Not with the CMP, or hogs, or chickens, or truckers or anything else. We should all get together and boycott California.
In some respects they do, not in policy, but in requirements. Cali is largest car market in the US. When they dictate that ‘whatever’ car will not be sold in Cali due to emissions requirements then car manufacturers will follow/attempt to that standard rather than make modifications or different drivetrains ect. It would cost manufacturers and shareholders too much to accommodate us in South Carolina because we want hemi’s in everything and not some POS electric hybrid soy car.
Follow the money is what I’m saying.
I agree 100%. Boycott everything about the Cali Leftists and their green Marxism.
Yep. Liberals always go on about how California is the worlds 8th largest economy or whatever, but it wouldn’t be anywhere near that that if the rest of the US stopped doing business with them.
Hey I’m a “civilian”. And I work on being a marksman. No way I’d have anything to do with these clowns…crisis of their own clownazzerry.
So did they wipe out the info for those that did get on and give ot?
So it was a mistake eh? Put ’em in cement shoes Mugsy.
They need to purge their staff!!!
More than likely an ANTI-GUN lunatic is on their staff!!!
You can follow the blind if you want.
If your part of it then your information is likely ALREADY part of it. Making it look more like a hack attack. Consequently, I would not be so gullible to actually do that. The people that lead these organizations need to understand just how vulnerable they are when it comes to anything on the internet. Two factor authentication means absolutely NOTHING. Just take a look at what is happening here. Articles like this exist for a reason.
Maybe this related to the law about “marketing guns to kids” in California? They want the address to determine if you are in California and the birthday to determine your age.
From what little I read about it, the law basically makes it impossible to market any gun at all because you have no way to prevent kids in California from seeing it. So far, I think most companies are just ignoring it because it’s sure to be shot down.
I agree with your suspicion that this was an honest if misguided attempt to comply with California’s absurd law.
Heh. It wouldn’t surprise me (not a lot, anyway) if the NSA contacted them, to inform CMP that the NSA already had all that information.
And ATF knows not only their birthdates , but which were breach babies, which were C-sections, and which were normal births.
And lil’d was forceps delivered?
lil’d was the goo that dripped off of the forceps, and the janitor failed to clean off of the floor. lil’d was tracked into a humid broom closet, where he absorbed all manner of nutrients, mostly tracked into the broom closet by the janitor. If you need more details, use your imagination, I don’t feel like repeating this horror story again.
So much for molon labe lol
My dad’s view of California strikes again. He said that the misfits from Europe settled the East coast, the misfits from the east coast settled the Ohio valley and the Great Smokies, the misfits from those areas settled the midwest, the misfits from the midwest settled the plains, and finally the misfits from the plains settled California — so California is a big basketfull of misfits to the sixth power.
“He said that the misfits from Europe settled the East coast,…”
And, the misfits (and felons) from England settled in Australia, as Southern Cross is all too familiar… 🙂
This seems like a mis-step in the comms/legal department. e.g. some lawyer who was an intern got involved. They seem to have a clear cut privacy statement already on their web site:
https://thecmp.org/home/privacy-policy/
That’s as any org should really be honestly. It’s something they are likely legally obligated to do.
“That’s as any org should really be honestly.”
Say, what?
That can’t possibly be constitutional. Anonymity on-line damn sure ought be a fundamental human right.
That ought to be injunction’ed by any Leftist Scum ™ judge worth their salt a scant few picoseconds upon it being official.
“It’s something they are likely legally obligated to do.”
You can bet your ass that’s a playbook move every Leftist Scum ™ is practically salivating about… 🙁
It is IMPOSSIBLE for any organization to function correctly without some amount of information. Some is required for compliance some is required for basic functionality. I mean, how can you get emails from someone if they don’t have your email address?
If you look at what they ask for they explicitly disclose how they use it. Whether you choose to associate with that organization is your business. Provided they abide by that, it’s really the best you can hope for.
I’m not saying it was right for them to ask for information in their mailer, but it seems as if it got corrected fairly quickly.
Just for the record. I got that first e-mail and I too thought the CPM had gone full blown nuts but I “did not” receive the second e-mail.
At any rate the CPM went from an organization that sold surplus guns to people at reasonable prices to get people, especially young people, into gun collecting and the competition sports to a greed monger rip off organization. Now they have become a money grubbing organization that rips people off and sells guns for the highest prices possible.
Their sale of surplus 1911 guns is a rip off and an absolute joke. The guns sold are sold for enormous prices and the customers are too dumb to know or even care that most of the surplus 1911 guns were in such bad shape that many new modern made (cast) parts had to be substituted so they could be rebuilt and sold as workable firearms. In other words you are really not getting a WWII collectable item but a rebuilt parts gun that is worth less than 1/2 of what you paid or for it. But hey, the CPM knows that “A sucker is born every minute” and the average gun owner today does not realize he is being raped on the ridiculous prices they charge for basically a parts gun.
I might also caution people that 1911 guns made during WWII had very soft slides. Back in the heyday of gun collecting my Uncle and his friends got 1911’s for ridiculously low prices usually in the $50.00 range and when people used them in competition they found that the soft slides did no hold up for very long. As a matter of fact even the U.S. military was well aware of this problem and the military personnel that were sent to Camp Perry for the annual matches had specially built guns with Colt Commercial made hardened slides.
With everyone and his brother and cousin making low cost 1911 guns today buying a CPM parts gun posing as a collectable WWII weapon is just this side of pure stupidity.
Time for them to do the ol’ Hire And Fire.
@Mad Max
You are correct. Triggered TWITS make the rules here, and out of thin air. Mrs. 05 and I went in to see the elementary school principle about our then young son. I wuz unhappy.
She said (I quote) “We’re not teaching kids here, we’re making Activists”. We Home Schooled soon after.
We’re visiting Texas now, looking for to buy an old run-down garbage junk house for 250 times what I’ll ever get from my VA disability…
These overeducated fools believe that it is OK to apply massive economic and political pressure to ANYBODY who disagrees with their Axis policies. Namely Citizens. That pay their salary.
So GET BUSY and BRING IT!
Feel free to give Not See Fornia what these weasels are shoving up our a$$es every day. It will be a beautiful place to be from…
You are joking? I’d be very,very surprised if the State of California did not have the names adresses and DOB of every singly legal gun owner in the State at the click of a mouse.
It’s I would have thought a condition of LICENSE just like an auto DRIVING LICENSE. Does notb the tELEPHONE COMPANT YNthat supplies you land lines have that information? if they do then the E-MAIL provider will have it automatically or they would not be able to collect you bills payments from your bank Debit arrangement or even from you Credi Cards
I do understand though that there may well be some unease if the information was unrestricted public knowledge.
Here in the uK we have the san me kind of problenmevery tinmmIDENTITYCARDS are mentioned there is an uproar in the mmedia, At the same time the same people doing the complining have in their possession a varietynof Bank Cards, and probaly a driving license and for sure you will have to,produce one or the other if say the police ask form identification. They will of course have to have ‘just cause’ but an ANPR [AUTOMATIC NUMBER PLATE RECOGNITION] alert a busted tail light, not wearing a seat belt or using your cell phone whilst driving is sufficient and if you cannot prove indentity you will be takien into custody until you do> If you get mouthy yo may be arrested and if arrested you willm, be ‘cuffed-up’.
I see your mistake, Albertie.
You live in a security state; you are not a free man.
We in the US live in a free state. We are free men.
It’s a freedom thing; you wouldn’t understand.
to Klingon
quote————-It’s a freedom thing; you wouldn’t understand.——-quote
No, Klingon its an ignorance thing on your part.
Ya sure Klingon who flunked both American History and British and European history classes, assuming you ever even had any.
We have only two corrupt political parties which are paid prostitutes of the rich and powerful. We have a mockery of democracy because of gerrymandering and the the corrupt electoral college which established a government of the rich and powerful and the citizens have little say in their own governments policies.
Britain has multi- political parties and a coalition government. They do not have to wait years to dissolve a corrupt or incompetent government. Since you do not know the definition of real freedom you would not know what real democracy is.
Studies prove that many European democracies have more freedoms than we do as well as have more freedom of the press as well.
All have paid for health care so no one goes bankrupt or lacks preventive medical care.
All have lower crime rates and way less gun homicides and mass murders.
Most pay their workers higher wages and have more vacation time and holidays off. The average holidays off are 30 days and most all get 4 weeks vacation the day they start a job. When you get seniority many workers get 3 months vacation as well as an additional 30 days of holidays.
French laborers working at the equivalent of Builders Square get triple time for Sunday work that is $33.00 an hour in American wages while Capitalvanian workers get part time minimum wage on Sundays.
Most Europeans get paid for educational expenses. No one has to say they cannot go to college because they cannot afford it. Many European nations get free tutoring for their children.
They most often retire earlier and get higher retirement wages.
There is no such thing as slave minimum part time wages. Europeans get a “livable wage” because they live in a civilized country, not the ruthless country of dog eat dog Capitalvania where workers are treated as mangy barely living dogs and troglodyte slaves.
In the 3 Scandinavian counties they score highest on the “happiness index” being satisfied with their lives and their governments performance.
The fucking communist state again. The CMP guys just wanted to stay within the boundaries of CA laws and did not think long enough before sending that note.
Comments are closed.