FOIA requests of historical 4473s
Correspondence from ATF citing they cannot comply because of the Tiahrt amendment. Pasted below fold because subguns.com links are temporary.
Dear Mr *******:
This letter is in response to your Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for access to information maintained by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) regarding copies of historical ATF Form 4473 and/or its predecessors and derivatives to document transaction records.
Exemption (b)(3) of the FOIA permits the withholding of information prohibited from disclosure by another statute only if one of two disjunctive requirements are met: the statute either (A) requires that the matters be withheld from the public in such a manner as to leave no discretion on the issue, or (B) establishes particular criteria for withholding or refers to particular types of matters to be withheld. A statute thus falls within the exemption’s coverage if it satisfies any one of its disjunctive requirements.
Beginning in 2003 ATF the Tiahrt Amendment placed restrictions on ATF’s disclosure of trace information. This prohibition has been included in each ATF Appropriation Bill since 2003. In 2010, the language was modified to ensure disclosures of trace information within the law enforcement community. The 2012 language found in P.I. 112-55 was unchanged from the 2010-2011 language.
The ATF 2012 Appropriation Bill prohibits ATF from expending appropriated funds to disclose to the public the contents or any portion thereof of any information maintained in the Firearms Trace Database or information required to be maintained by Federal Firearms Licensees. You have required records that fall within this restriction. Therefore, your request is denied pursuant to 5 USC 522(b)(3) and the Pub. L. No. 112-55, 125 Stat. 552.
If you disagree with this determination you may administratively appeal the decision by writing to the Office of Information Policy (OIP), Department of Justice, 1425 New York Ave, Suite 11050, Washington, DC, 20530-0001. Both the envelope and the letter should be marked “FOIA Appeal.” You may also submit your administrative appeal to OIP electronically. Please follow this link to OIP’s webpage: http://www.justice.gov/oip/oip-request.html#administrative-appeal. Once you have arrived at OIP’s webpage follow the instructions for submitting aFOIA appeal. Regardless of whether you use mail or email to submit your administrative appeal please include the request number on this letter with your appeal letter. Your appeal must be received by OIP within 60 days from the date of this letter.
Sincerely,
Stephanie M. Boucher
Chief, Disclosure Division
January 30th, 2014 at 11:38 am
While the ATF may have a claim that they cannot release the record, a local LEA would not. Since traces originate from a LEA and ultimately are provided to them, the better FOIA request is to the LEA that originated the request, if it were known.