9th Circuit Upholds Dismissal of Lawsuit Against Sharing of Gun Buyers’ Info

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Wednesday upheld a San Diego federal judge’s dismissal of a lawsuit challenging California’s law that permits gun owners’ information to be shared with researchers studying gun violence.

The lawsuit filed on behalf of a group of gun owners — including three from San Diego County — sought to block enforcement of AB 173, which amended state law to allow disclosure of gun owners’ personal information to researchers. The gun owners alleged the law deterred potential gun and ammunition buyers from freely exercising their Second Amendment rights and violated the privacy rights of gun owners.

U.S. District Judge Larry Alan Burns dismissed the suit last year, ruling that the state already collects information on gun buyers and concealed carry weapon permit applicants, and that the sharing of information outlined in AB 173 was “merely a limited extension” of those measures.

A similar lawsuit was filed in state court by a group of gun owners, and while a San Diego Superior Court judge granted the plaintiffs’ preliminary injunction request blocking AB 173, a state appellate court panel overturned the judge’s decision last fall.

In Wednesday’s opinion, the 9th Circuit wrote that the information gun buyers must turn over for purchases and concealed carry weapons permits “is not intimate personal information that would implicate the right to privacy.”

Further, the court wrote that there have been no allegations that the research institutions who received the data have ever violated restrictions against publicly disseminating the information.

Though the plaintiffs said the sharing of information “chills them from exercising their Second Amendment rights,” the court wrote that sharing the information “for legitimate research purposes does not restrict conduct covered by the plain text of the Second Amendment.”

California Attorney General Rob Bonta praised the ruling in a statement.

“Enabling rigorous empirical research is crucial as we strive to combat the scourge of gun violence within our state,” Bonta said. “The Ninth Circuit’s decision marks a significant victory in our endeavor to curb gun violence in California. The information shared under AB 173 is pivotal: It enables groundbreaking research that supports informed policymaking aimed at reducing and preventing firearm violence and saving lives.”

City News Service contributed to this article.