Gun violence researchers can receive data from California’s justice department, court rules

California’s Department of Justice can continue to share firearm data with researchers studying the causes of gun violence, per a new court order.

The Fourth District Court of Appeal ruled that firearm data can be accessed by the University of California Firearm Violence Research Center and others as directed in Assembly Bill 173, which required the study of gun violence, the impact of it and effective responses.

On Tuesday, Attorney General Rob Bonta hailed the three-judge panel’s decision regarding Barba v. Bonta as a victory in the state’s ongoing campaign to curb gun violence.

In the case, plaintiffs sought to prevent researchers from accessing data on firearms purchases in California, saying it violated their privacy. They had secured a preliminary injunction from a trial court that prevented the DOJ from releasing the information.

The court’s decision, issued Friday, overturned that injunction. The lower court had not weighed the state’s established public health interest when it allowed the preliminary injunction, the appeal court justices said, and gun rights groups didn’t effectively rebut Bonta’s evidence showing the need for empirical research.

“AB 173’s information-sharing serves the important goal of enabling research that supports informed policymaking aimed at reducing and preventing firearm violence,” Bonta said. “Research and data are vital in our efforts to prevent gun violence in California and provide a clear path to help us save lives.”

Brad Benbrook and Steve Duvernay of Benbrook Law Group, the attorneys representing the plaintiffs, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The court order allows the DOJ to resume providing the data to the University of California Firearm Violence Research Center and other qualified researchers, Bonta said.

Garen J. Wintemute, director of the Violence Prevention Research Program at the University of California, Davis, called the decision “an important victory for science.”

Wintemute and his team have used the data extensively to study the impact of gun violence and potential ways to prevent deaths.

“It reaffirms the value of objective evidence in understanding and intervening on important health problems, firearm violence among them,” Wintemute said. “For more than 30 years, researchers at UC Davis and elsewhere have used the data in question to conduct vital research that simply couldn’t be done anywhere else. We’re glad to be able to return to that important work, which will improve health and safety here in California and across the country.”

California law has required the DOJ to maintain records of handgun sales in California since the 1950s, Bonta noted in the news release about the court decision. Legislators recently added sales of long guns and ammunition.

This data provide an opportunity for research not available anywhere else, the DOJ stated, and UCD researchers have been using the information in studies since 1989.

In 2016, the state Legislature directed the Regents of the University of California to establish a Firearm Violence Research Center to produce interdisciplinary research on the nature and consequences of firearm violence, DOJ officials said. The UC center also works with policymakers to identify, implement and evaluate innovative firearm violence prevention policies and programs.

On Aug. 15, the California Department of Justice used the information to release the first-ever data report from its Office of Gun Violence Prevention. The report showed how California had used data-driven strategies to pull its firearm homicide rate down to 33% below the rest of the U.S. The state once ranked 50% above the national average in such deaths.

Then in November, the DOJ Office of Gun Violence Prevention used the data to issue a second report that looked in-depth at the ties between domestic violence and firearms.

Paul Carrillo, vice president of Giffords Center for Violence Intervention, said the DOJ’s August report underscored the gravity of the challenges that the nation faces from gun violence.

“The report sheds light on disparities that persist, and it underscores the impact of external factors such as the pandemic and the trafficking of illegal firearms,” Carrillo said. “We must address these challenges head-on, collaborating with partners across all levels of government and within our communities to break the cycle of violence.”

During his tenure, Bonta has worked to expand the types of data and information that researchers can access from the California Department of Justice.