As Gun Owners of America (GOA) appeals a court’s decision in its gag order case, multiple legacy media companies have filed amicus briefs in support of the gun rights organization.
In 2021, AmmoLand News broke a story about a then-unknown Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) program that utilized the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s (FBI’s) National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) to monitor Americans’ gun purchases. The program was leaked to AmmoLand News through our sources within the federal government.
The subjects of the monitoring were Americans, in many cases, who were not suspected of committing any crime. Some of these targets were subject to surveillance because the government believed they might commit a crime in the future or were associated with individuals of concern. In a later Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by GOA, it was shown that the ATF was using the program to help anti-gun states monitor people who might be buying guns out of state, which violates their home state’s law.
Because of these disturbing uses of NICS by the ATF, GOA filed a FOIA request to get information on just who was monitored by the government surveillance programs. After a lengthy fight and resistance by the ATF, the Bureau finally relented and turned over the requested documents to the gun rights group.
When the ATF turns over documents in response to a FOIA request, the documents are usually heavily redacted, hiding information that it deems exempt from FOIA laws. When the ATF supplied GOA with the requested records on the NCIS monitoring program, the ATF mistakenly provided GOA with unredacted documents. The ATF noticed their mistake and demanded that GOA delete all the documents provided. GOA refused the order.
GOA argued that it broke no laws in receiving the documents and had no obligation to delete the files it had legally obtained. This standard has been well established in the courts through cases such as the Pentagon Papers or the ATF’s withdrawal of its motion for a gag order against this reporter when AmmoLand News reported on documents obtained legally in the AutoKeyCard case.
When GOA refused, the ATF sought and was granted a restraining order by a federal judge, preventing the gun rights group from using or releasing the documents to the public. This order sparked a multi-year battle between the ATF and GOA. A Washington D.C. District Court Judge upheld the restraining order, leading GOA to appeal to the Washington D.C. Court of Appeals.
The appeal has garnered support from some of the nation’s top legacy media companies, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. Even National Public Radio (NPR) and Vox have filed amicus briefs on behalf of GOA. These organizations recognize that this fight extends beyond the FOIA reply in question. This case could have a rippling effect across the media, severely limiting the rights of a free press.
“ATF has not shown that this is an ‘exceptional case’ warranting a prior restraint, and the District Court did not take up the issue in any meaningful way. Absent such a finding, the prior restraint, if upheld, would make a shambles of the First Amendment,’” the brief reads.
“As the ‘eyes and ears’ of the public, Houchins v. KQED, Inc., 438 U.S. 1, 8 (1978), the press relies on FOIA as a means to gather information to report on the work of federal agencies. Public records based reporting is vital to the public interest and furthers the core purposes of the Act, which Congress recognized in enacting provisions specific to the news media,” the brief continues.
These media organizations recognized that giving the government the power to “claw back” documents would set an extraordinary precedent that could allow the federal government to have unchecked power over the media, meaning, in many people’s eyes, this would be the death of a free press.
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About John Crump
Mr. Crump is an NRA instructor and a constitutional activist. John has written about firearms, interviewed people from all walks of life, and on the Constitution. John lives in Northern Virginia with his wife and sons, follow him on X at @crumpyss, or at www.crumpy.com.
Well, THAT’S one-in-a-row, the DeMSM agreeing with a gun rights organization. But ya takes ’em as ya finds ’em.
GOA has a duty to allow a public search of these documents and allow individuals named as targets of this program to be made aware and take action on their own. I smell a massive civil rights class action suit against ATF and one would hope parallel criminal prosecutions of offending bureaucrats and complicit states.
Just another reason that BATFE needs to go.
A government agency “monitoring” (surveilling) Americans without having secured a warrant upon demonstration to a judge or magistrate of probable cause? Certainly can’t let that get out…
atf just needs to be dissolved ,and criminal actions of members tried and jailed or shot