BELLEVUE, WA – Attorneys representing the Second Amendment Foundation and its partners in a lawsuit challenging the California Department of Justice’s disclosure of personal information for third-party “research” have filed a memorandum of points and authorities supporting their earlier motion for summary judgment. The case is known as Barba v. Bonta.
SAF is joined by the Firearms Policy Coalition, California Gun Rights Foundation, San Diego County Gun Owners PAC, Orange County Gun Owners PAC, Inland Empire Gun Owners PAC and a private citizen AshleyMarie Barba, for whom the case is named. They are represented by attorneys Bradley A. Benbrook and Stephen M. Duvernay at the Benbrook Law Group in Sacramento. Named as defendant in the case is Attorney General Rob Bonta.
A hearing is scheduled next April 18 before Judge Katherine A. Bacal in San Diego County Superior Court.
Californians have been required to disclose personal information on handgun purchases since 1996. In 2014, the requirement was expanded to include long guns. In 2021, the legislature passed Assembly Bill 173, which now requires the California Department of Justice to share this information with the California Firearm Violence Prevention Center at UC Davis, and allows DOJ to share the information with other research institutions.
“This is an egregious violation of gun owners’ privacy rights,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “California citizens are not guinea pigs for social scientists at UC Davis or anywhere else. The court should bring a halt to this under Article 1, § 1 of the California Constitution.”
“California residents who purchase firearms should have a reasonable expectation that the confidential information they provide to the DOJ is not turned over to any third party entity for purposes unrelated to law enforcement,” SAF Executive Director Adam Kraut explained. “The provisions of AB 173 ignore and override this basic privacy right, and cannot be allowed.”
The Second Amendment Foundation (saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group dedicated to safeguarding and promoting the fundamental rights of individuals enshrined in the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution. SAF engages in aggressive legal action to ensure the principles of armed self-defense, personal liberty, and the ownership of arms are defended, secured, and restored. Through public education initiatives, SAF teaches the importance of the Second Amendment to promote a society that values and exercises the right to keep and bear arms.
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