Gunowners rip ATF clawback order for unredacted document
Source: Courthouse News Service
January 29, 2026
WASHINGTON (CN) — A D.C. Circuit panel on Thursday seemed skeptical it could reverse a lower court’s order that allowed the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to claw back a document listing individuals whose firearm purchases were monitored after it was released without redactions. The three-judge panel heard arguments in a case brought by the Gun Owners of America and the Gun Owners Foundation, who requested a series of 13 documents from the federal agency under the Freedom of Information Act and argue the clawback of the 13th document amounted to an unlawful gag order.
Robert Olson, of firm William Olson and representing the gun rights groups, argued the order had inflicted irreparable harm on his clients by blocking them from informing any of their members that they have been subject to the agency’s surveillance. “Plaintiff’s lawyers have been prohibited from communicating with their clients about that production, and since I was the one who originally reviewed that production before the gag order was entered, I’m ordered to not even have the thoughts in my head,” Olson said. “I don’t know how to comply with that. I don’t know how to unknow something.”
The gun rights groups’ request centered on the agency’s use of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. They specifically sought records showing the number of individuals monitored, records showing the purpose of the surveillance, records discussing the legality of the system, records showing the number of individuals prosecuted as a result and records demonstrating any improper use of the system.
After producing 12 sets of documents, the agency mistakenly turned over 115 pages containing unapplied redactions for personally identifiable material, with red boxes surrounding text that was meant to be redacted. When a user hovered a cursor over the red boxes, only then would it change to black, applying the redactions and the relevant Freedom of Information exemption. The rights groups subsequently asked the agency to provide a redacted version of the document, to which the agency asked the groups to delete their copy before providing the redacted version.
Read more: https://courthousenews.com/gunowners-rip-atf-clawback-order-for-unredacted-document/
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