Under the Biden administration's whole-of-government attacks on the firearms industry, however, the ATF did release that information after USA Today reporter Nick Penzenstadler filed a Freedom of Information Act request, which led to scores of reports implying those shops that were part of the Demand 2 program were "bad apple" dealers who were intentionally and willfully arming criminals. 

As we've previously pointed out here, that simply isn't the case. Even the Washington, D.C. police department was a part of the Demand 2 program for at least a year, back when it served as the only FFL willing to do firearm transfers in the District of Columbia. High volume dealers are more likely to have more of their firearms traced, and a trace itself isn't evidence that a crime has been committed. 

In Florida, for instance, the top four categories for gun traces in 2021 were "firearm under investigation," "possession of a weapon," "found firearm," and "carrying a concealed weapon." Those categories accounted for 19,288 of the 34,491 traces conducted by the ATF in Florida that year, and many of those traces may not have involved a crime at all, an important fact that's completely missing from all of these reports.  

Now Rep. Clay Higgins (R-LA) has introduced a bill on Capitol Hill that would halt these ATF abuses in their tracts. The Law Enforcement Protection and Privacy Act would provide a number of safeguards for FFLs, according to the National Shooting Sports Foundation. 

• Makes clear that the contents of National Trace Center is not subject to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
• Establishes penalties for the unauthorized release of firearm trace data up to $10,000 for first violation per disclosure of an individual record and $25,000 for any other violations. It would also result in loss of access to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) National Tracing Center (NTC) Firearm Tracing System (FTS) for one year for those who fail to comply with the law.
• Provides federal firearms licensees (FFLs) a private right of action against a Federal agency or a local, tribal or foreign entity if data concerning them is unlawfully released, and if the FFL prevails the FFL would be awarded the greater of triple the amount of damages suffered or $25,000 for each discloser of information, punitive damages as the court allows and attorney’s fee and court costs.
• Removes sovereign immunity as a defense to actions to enforce violations of the law.

The Tiahrt amendment prohibits the release of firearm trace data to anyone other than law enforcement or prosecutors investigating a crime. Currently, there are no penalties for when individuals or agencies ignore this law and release this data to advance a political gun control agenda. While ATF could, under memorandum of understanding, disallow access to the data by those who violate the agreement, ATF has never enforced that provision.

I would hope and expect that acting ATF Director Kash Patel will enforce that provision going forward, but what happens the next time a Democrat is in the White House and an anti-gunner like David Chipman or Steve Dettelbach has been installed as the head of the agency? The naming and shaming is likely to start up again with a vengeance... unless something like Higgins's bill has been enshrined into law. 

The Law Enforcement Protection and Privacy Act will face the same high hurdles (particularly in the Senate) as every other piece of legislation this session, but there's always the possibility of including this language in an appropriations bill, which would only require a simple majority in both chambers to become law. I think that's a reasonable ask, especially given the egregious nature of the ATF's efforts to demonize gun shops that are a part of the Demand 2 program, even if Patel gives FFLs the administrative relief and privacy protection they deserve.