From today's decision in Doe v. Bonta, written by Judge Mary Schroeder and joined by Judges Patrick Bumatay and Salvandor Mendoza:
California's DOJ maintains two databases relevant to this case. The first database relates to purchasers of firearms and applicants for CCWs. It is called the Automated Firearm System ["AFS"]. The second relates to purchasers of ammunition and is known as the Ammunition Purchase Records File ["APRF"]…. California has long permitted disclosure of information from these databases to a wide range of public officials, primarily for law enforcement purposes….
DOJ is statutorily required to include in the AFS the following personal information about gun purchasers and CCW holders: name, address, identification, place of birth, telephone number, occupation, sex, description, and legal aliases. The APRF contains similar information collected from ammunition vendors. Plaintiffs do not object to the existence of these databases or to dissemination of the information for law enforcement purposes….
The legislation at issue in this case, AB 173, became effective in September 2021. It amended the existing statutes to require DOJ to disclose data from these databases to researchers. The statute itself names as a recipient of the information the California Firearm Violence Research Center at University of California-Davis. The Center is a state institution the legislature created to do research on firearm violence, in order to inform policy and assist the legislature in enacting appropriate legislation. The statute also permits DOJ in its discretion to share information from these databases with other accredited, non-profit research institutions studying firearm violence. Currently, Stanford University houses the only institution so authorized.
Several gun owners sued, but the court rejected their arguments. First, as to the right of privacy:
