After last week ordering the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and Firearms Policy Coalition (FPC) to turn their membership lists over to the federal government as part of a court ruling, a U.S. District Court has now vacated that order.
The case, Reese v. ATF, challenges the federal law that prevents licensed firearm dealers from selling or transferring handguns to adults under 21. The original judgment limited the organizational relief to individuals who were members of the plaintiff organizations as of the filing of the case, and who were located within the geographical bounds of the 5th Circuit (Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana).
The judgment also required that, “Within 21 days of issuance of this judgment, those Plaintiffs…shall provide to Defendants a verified list of their members as of November 6, 2020.”
On October 14, the court vacated the demand for the organizations to turn over those membership lists—a good thing since neither organization planned to comply.
“We had no intention of releasing any private membership data and were prepared to take all necessary steps to ensure our member list was not disclosed to the government,” Bill Sack, SAF director of legal operations, said in a news release announcing the order. “Luckily, the court responded to our joint motion promptly and vacated its original order. With that order vacated and a phone conference forthcoming as to the proper scope of relief, it appears we will have more updates on the Reese order in the near future.”
Alan M. Gottlieb, SAF executive vice president, called the notion that his organization would release its membership list to anyone “preposterous.”
“We’re thankful the court saw its error in the judgment and vacated the original order,” Gottlieb said. “However, we want to make it extremely clear—we will never release the private data of SAF supporters to the government, full stop. That’s akin to letting the proverbial fox in the henhouse and will never happen. Of that you can be assured.”
The court order to submit the membership lists led the National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR) to call for President Donald Trump to fire U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.
“While we all had major concerns with the nomination of Pam Bondi as Attorney General, we hoped for the best and that she would prove a staunch advocate for the right to keep and bear arms,” NAGR President Dudley Brown wrote in an action alert to members. “Unfortunately, it’s been NINE MONTHS since Bondi was confirmed, and it has become increasingly evident that she has failed the Second Amendment.”
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet J. Dhillon quickly came to Bondi’s defense.
“Our @AGPamBondi is the most pro-2A AG in US history, and this is a very bad take on many levels,” Dhillon posted on X, formerly Twitter. “According to the video, the supposed ‘straw that broke the camel’s back’ is that DOJ asked a federal court to require pro-2A groups to submit lists of their members. That is false.”
Ultimately, regardless of who was responsible for the list release order, it has now been rescinded, putting the matter to rest.
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