Appeals court rules that California can continue providing gun owners' personal information to gun violence researchers

A California appeals court ruled that the state can continue providing gun owners' personal information to gun violence researchers, which the Associated Press said reversed a lower court judge's 2022 decision that sharing such data violates privacy rights.

What is the background?

Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2021 signed into law a measure allowing the state’s Department of Justice to share identifying information of more than 4 million gun owners with qualified research institutions to help them better study gun violence, accidents, and suicides, the AP said.

The information includes data such as names, addresses, phone numbers, and criminal records, all of which are collected during background checks, the AP said.

While the researchers can use the information and make their findings public, they can’t release gun owners' identifying information, the outlet added.

More from the AP:

In response, gun owners and organizations sued the state, arguing that the disclosure of their information violates their privacy rights. San Diego County Superior Court Judge Katherine Bacal ruled to temporarily block the law last October.

But on Friday, a three-judge panel of the California Court of Appeals for the Fourth District found that the lower court failed to consider the state’s interest in studying and preventing gun violence in its analysis before halting the law. In the opinion, Associate Justice Julia C. Kelety sent the case back to the lower court and said the preliminary injunction must be reversed.

Lawyers representing the gun owners and firearms groups suing the state didn’t immediately respond to calls and an email seeking comment.

“The court’s decision is a victory in our ongoing efforts to prevent gun violence,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement, according to the outlet. Bonta also said the law “serves the important goal of enabling research that supports informed policymaking aimed at reducing and preventing firearm violence," the AP noted.

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