Gun rights group fires back at California AG's reported leak of firearm owners data: 'He should resign'

The office of California's Attorney General Rob Bonta released the personal information of thousands of California gun owners and concealed carry permit holders to the public this week, and Second Amendment activists see it as a major breach of privacy.

Sam Paredes, executive director of Gun Owners of California, told Fox News Wednesday that the release of information was either negligent or potentially criminal.

"We believe that AG Rob Bonta is either massively incompetent, incredibly negligent, or willing to criminally leak information that he does not have the authority to leak," Paredes said.

"This is so egregious that he should resign. He has placed tens of thousands of abiding citizens in California in harms way. That is not excusable with an 'I'm sorry.'"

The Democratic attorney general, appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom last year, announced in a press release Monday that the new portal was created to "improve transparency and information sharing for firearms-related data."

In Monday's press release, the state's DOJ claimed they sought to protect "the personal identifying information in the data the Department collects and maintains," however, large amounts of personal information on gun owners were released.

The leak was first reported by gun news outlet The Reload Tuesday, just days after the Supreme Court's consequential Second Amendment ruling.

The information, taken from the state's database of concealed carry permit holders, included the thousands of gun owners full name, date of birth, home address, race, when their concealed carry permit was issued, and what type of permit it was. The Reload reportedly found in the LA County database that around 420 reserve officers and 2... (Read more)

Latest News