DOJ Responds to Gun Rights Restoration FOIA Request

“This is an interim response to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request of your client, David Codrea, dated and received in this Office on April 28, 2025, for records concerning the restoration of firearm rights to specific individuals,” a Thursday letter to attorney Stephen Stamboulieh from Vanessa R. Brinkmann, Senior Counsel, U.S. Department of Justice Office of Information Policy begins.

My request was submitted after the DOJ announced it had “identified ten (10) individuals for firearm restoration [actor Mel Gibson among them].” Left unaddressed was what criteria citizens seeking similar relief would need to meet to be considered for equal treatment. To that end, I filed a FOIA request asking for:

All records “reviewed” by the Attorney General for each individual listed in the filing;

All records “that each individual submitted” to receive relief under 18 U.S.C. 925(c); and

All other records not “submitted” by the list of individuals but relied upon by the Attorney General in establishing that “each individual will not be likely to act in a manner dangerous to public safety and that the granting of the relief to each individual would not be contrary to the public interest.”

Because the government did not respond to the request in the time required by law, a complaint was filed in the United States District Court in the District of Columbia asking the court to order DOJ to conduct a responsive search, produce non-exempt records “by a date certain,” enjoin DOJ from continuing to withhold records, and award attorney fees/litigation costs that would not have been needed had it simply complied with settled law.

“No response is required…  Plaintiff is not entitled to compel the production of any record… This Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction… Plaintiff is neither eligible for nor entitled to attorney’s fees [and] Plaintiff’s request is improper to the extent is it unduly burdensome,” US Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro and Assistant US Attorney John J. Pardo argued back in the Department of Justice’s answer, filed Dec. 19.

Despite that standard legal reaction, Thursday’s interim response, including a Memorandum for the Attorney General on “Candidates for Relief from Firearms Disability,” advised “that a search has been conducted and material responsive to your request has been located. At this time, I have determined that five pages are appropriate for release with certain information withheld pursuant to Exemptions 5 and 6 of the FOIA… and copies are enclosed.”

Citing “inter- and intra-agency communications protected by civil discovery privileges,” and  “information the release of which would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy,” the memorandum is heavily redacted, to where all that is included pertaining to the candidates is their names, not the criteria used to determine their eligibility (outside of U.S. Code citations noting the Attorney General is empowered to grant relief to those determined “’not… likely to act in a manner dangerous to public safety and’ where ‘the grating of relief would not be contrary to the public interest.’”)

The FOIA request never asked for anything that was not a matter of nonexempt record, and the intent behind the effort was simply to determine what criteria citizens seeking similar relief would need to meet to prove themselves eligible for equal treatment.

Because this is an “interim response,” more documents should be coming. We’ll have to wait to see what they disclose.

If you are interested in restoring your gun rights, visit Restore 2A.

About David Codrea:

David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.