FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 17, 2026
Gun Owners of America Demands OIG Investigation into DOJ and ATF for Unlawful Disclosure of Sensitive Taxpayer and Private Gun Owner Information
SPRINGFIELD, VA – Erich Pratt, Senior Vice President of Gun Owners of America (GOA), has formally requested that the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (OIG) launch an immediate investigation into the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the DOJ’s Civil Division. The request follows a series of alarming breaches in which the government intentionally filed, on a public court docket, the sensitive tax returns of a GOA member, along with details of this person’s private firearm collection.
During ongoing litigation in Silencer Shop Found. v. BATFE, DOJ attorneys representing the ATF intentionally filed the sensitive tax information and National Firearms Act (NFA) tax returns of a GOA member on a public docket. These disclosures included:
- Two approved ATF “Forms 1,” which legally constitute protected tax returns.
- In a negligent (but presumably inadvertent) move, the government failed to redact the GOA’s member’s name, city, and state.
- The ATF then provided a declaration detailing the exact number of NFA items owned by the GOA member, essentially providing a “map” of the member’s personal firearm collection to the public.
Under 26 U.S.C. § 6103, NFA registration forms are strictly prohibited from public disclosure. Despite this, even after being alerted to the breach and attempting to correct the filings, the DOJ inexcusably publicized much of the same sensitive information a second time.
“The sensitivity of this information cannot be understated, nor can the severity of DOJ and ATF’s breach of personal privacy and possible violations of federal law,” stated Erich Pratt in his letter to Acting Inspector General William M. Blier.
GOA is demanding a formal investigation to determine the specific circumstances that led to this disclosure and to identify the officials responsible for the decision to refile protected records. The investigation seeks to uncover:
- Whether these actions constitute a breach of federal statutes, regulations, or policies.
- What warnings, if any, the ATF provided to the DOJ regarding the sensitivity of the data.
- What new procedures will be implemented to prevent the government from “doxing” gun owners in the future.
“The millions of gun owners represented by Gun Owners of America expect a prompt, transparent, and complete investigation of this matter,” Pratt concluded.
John Velleco, Executive Vice President of Gun Owners Foundation, issued the following statement:
“Gun Owners of America will not stand idly by while the government weaponizes protected tax information on a public forum. We are as committed to defending our members’ privacy as we are to defending the Second Amendment, and this egregious violation must be reviewed with the utmost seriousness.”
Erich Pratt, Senior Vice President of Gun Owners of America, issued the following statement:
“The government has no right to dox gun owners or broadcast their private tax returns to the world. GOA will not stay silent while federal agencies flout the law to target our members. We take our members’ security as seriously as their constitutional rights, and we will fight to ensure this never happens again.”
GOA spokesmen are available for interviews. Gun Owners of America is a nonprofit grassroots lobbying organization dedicated to protecting the right to keep and bear arms without compromise. GOA represents over two million members and activists. For more information, visit GOA’s Press Center.
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