Everytown sues ATF for firearm suicide data

A gun control advocacy group that is part of Everytown for Gun Safety is suing the Trump administration for information on the number of guns used in suicides.

Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Thursday to obtain the data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

The group claims that ATF improperly refused to hand over national and state data on the number of firearms used in suicides or attempted suicides in 2012 and 2013 that were recovered by law enforcement and traced by the ATF.

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Everytown said that in denying its Freedom of Information Act request, the agency argued it is prohibited by Congress from disclosing Gun Control Act data to anyone other than a law enforcement agency or a prosecutor.

But the gun control advocacy group argued none of the data it requested is sensitive law enforcement information that could endanger ongoing investigations.

“We need the best information available to work on policies to prevent American gun violence, and that includes suicide,” Eric Tirschwell, Everytown for Gun Safety’s litigation director, said in a statement.

“The data we’re seeking is a potentially important missing piece for public health experts studying gun suicides, and we’ll do what it takes to make this important data public.”