Gun Control Group Suing ATF Over Refusal to Release Gun Trace Data

Gun control advocates raise signs in the gallery of the Tennessee House chamber in Nashville, Tenn., on April 6, 2023. George Walker IV/AP Photo

The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence filed a lawsuit against the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) on June 4, over the ATF’s withholding of trace data in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.

The information is part of the ATF’s Demand Letter 2 (DL2) program. Under this program, guns that are connected to a crime within three years of their initial sale are considered to have a short “time-to-crime.”