Brady v. ATF - FOIA Lawsuits
The Brady Center took the ATF to court to obtain inspection reports of gun industry businesses that violated firearms laws. This litigation and the ATF’s document production is ongoing, but Brady has already received over 8,000 pages of ATF inspection reports. These documents tell a disturbing story. Routinely, when inspectors recommend that dealers who are repeatedly violating the law should have their dealer licenses revoked, higher level ATF officials overrule them and allow these dealers to remain in business with a slap on the wrist. A front-page New York Times article on these documents has already led members of Congress to inquire about ATF’s lacking industry oversight practices.
Brady’s oversight efforts continue. Brady is currently litigating two more FOIA suits brought against the ATF in November 2018 seeking additional inspection reports and ATF’s updated policies and practices for issuing remedial action against the worst gun industry violators. Brady also filed a lawsuit in December 2018 against the State Department for documents explaining its sudden and dangerous decision to allow blueprints of 3-D guns to be uploaded to the internet, so terrorists and prohibited purchasers have easy access to undetectable, untraceable guns. Brady is leading the way in holding the Trump Administration accountable for its terrible gun policies, and there is still so much more to come.