Attorney Stephen Stamboulieh filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) complaint against the Department of Justice on behalf of this correspondent Thursday with the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The complaint asks for “injunctive and other appropriate relief and seek[s] the disclosure and release of agency records improperly withheld from Plaintiff by Defendant Department of Justice (‘DOJ’) regarding the department’s decision-making criteria for firearm disability relief actions.”
The complaint was filed because a request submitted at the end of April, and acknowledged by the DOJ in early May, has not been fulfilled as required by law. (Per “5 U.S.C. §552(a)(6)(A)(i), Defendant DOJ had twenty (20) business days in which to produce the requested records. This period has expired.”)
The request was made, as summarized in my September/October 2025 American Handgunner “Gun Rights” column, to “seek… documents related to [DOJ’s] restoration of Second Amendment rights recognition for Hollywood A-lister Mel Gibson and nine other citizens. Because it’s so easy to end up on the ‘prohibited persons list (including the innocent pleading out to avoid great expense and threatened draconian punishment if they lose), it seemed in the interests of gun owners to know what criteria were used and who is likely to be eligible for consideration.”
Why were those 10 citizens chosen? What do they have that “we” don’t? Or more to the point, what do we also have that they do?
What I was asking for could help understand that process and also give Second Amendment advocates and the membership groups they support opportunities to help guide its development and implementation. To that end, the request was for:
All records “reviewed” by the Attorney General for each individual listed in the filing; All records “that each individual submitted” to receive relief under 18 U.S.C. 925(c); and All other records not “submitted” by the list of individuals, but relied upon by the Attorney General in establishing that “each individual will not be likely to act in a manner dangerous to public safety and that the granting of the relief to each individual would not be contrary to the public interest.”
“As of the date of this Complaint, DOJ has failed to: (i) to fully comply with Plaintiff’s FOIA request; (ii) notify Plaintiff of any such determination or the reasons therefore; (iii) advise Plaintiff of the right to appeal any adverse determination; or (iv) produce all the requested records or otherwise demonstrate that the requested records are exempt from production,” the complaint alleges.
In summary, the court is being asked to order DOJ to conduct a responsive search, produce non-exempt records “by a date certain,” enjoin DOJ from continuing to withhold records, and award attorney fees/litigation costs that would not have been needed had it simply complied with settled law.
A copy of the complaint, the initial FOIA request, and DOJ/s acknowledgement is embedded below:
Why Gun Grabbers Say ‘Gun Violence’ Instead of Addressing Real Problems
Charlie Kirk was Right About the Second Amendment, Remember His Words
About David Codrea:
David Codrea is the winner of multiple journalist awards for investigating/defending the RKBA and a long-time gun owner rights advocate who defiantly challenges the folly of citizen disarmament. He blogs at “The War on Guns: Notes from the Resistance,” is a regularly featured contributor to Firearms News, and posts on Twitter: @dcodrea and Facebook.
