Written by Bobbie Wylie
A group of California gun owners filed a lawsuit in San Diego federal court seeking to block the California Department of Justice from enforcing a newly signed state law that requires gun owners’ personal information to be shared with researchers studying gun violence.
The suit was filed Wednesday by five plaintiffs, all identified as John and Jane Does. Three of those plaintiffs are San Diego County residents. Their suit seeks to block enforcement of California AB 173, which amended state gun laws to require disclosure of gun purchaser’s personal information to researchers at the California Firearm Violence Research Center at UC Davis. The research center is also given the discretion to share that information with “any other nonprofit bonafide research institution accredited by the United States Department of Education or the Council for Higher Education Accreditation, as specified, for the study of the prevention of violence.”
The law states that identifying information may “only be provided for research or statistical activities” and any reports utilizing the information cannot identify specific people.
Governor Newsom signed AB 173 into law in September 2021.
The lawsuit alleges that the plaintiffs “disclosed their personal information in reliance on the government’s assurance that their information would only be used for law enforcement purposes,” and claims that disclosure of their information will subject the plaintiffs to “unwanted public attention, harassment, threats and physical violence by individuals and groups including persons in the community who are hostile to guns and gun owners.”
The lawsuit claims that AB 173 does not have an adequate enforcement mechanism to ensure gun owner’s confidentiality once their information is shared with the research center.
This legislation brings up tremendous privacy concerns from gun owners. While the law states that reports utilizing this information cannot identify specific people, it is understandable that gun owners are concerned that anti-firearm researchers will have access to their name, address, and all the weapons, parts, and ammo they bought legally.
A spokesperson for the California Attorney General’s Office stated the office had not yet been served with the lawsuit, but said in a statement, “the Attorney General will continue to enforce and defend the state’s laws, including AB 173, and its provisions that seek to improve public safety by providing research institutions with the data they need to study gun violence in order to help us prevent it.”
Photo Cred: SDPD
