Gun Owners' Private Information Breached After California Unveils Firearms Portal

A customer shops for a pistol in Tinley Park, Illinois, on Dec. 17, 2012. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

Firearms owners who have a concealed carry permit in California had their data leaked Monday after Attorney General Rob Bonta launched a 2022 Firearms Dashboard Portal, according to gun rights groups.

According to gun news outlet The Reload, personal information was leaked online for at least 2,891 people who live in Los Angeles County and have standard licenses. That includes 420 reserve officers, 244 judge permits, and 63 people with employment-related permits.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a dashboard portal was to serve as an information hub between gun owners for transparency purposes.

"Transparency is key to increasing public trust between law enforcement and the communities we serve," he said in a news release on Monday.

The National Rifle Association (NRA) said that users of the California dashboard were able to download information that identified concealed carry weapons holders, including their names, addresses, and date of birth.

"NRA is monitoring the unfolding situation in California and will keep gun owners apprised of any further developments," the group said.

By Tuesday, the California Department of Justice appeared to have removed the dashboard portal from its website. When trying to access the website, an error message reads: "Website temporarily unavailable. Please try again in a few minutes. We are working to bring the site back online as soon as possible."

'Stunning'

But the California Rifle & Pistol Association (pdf) said that “hundreds of thousands” of gun owners in California might be affected by the breach of the dashboard portal.

“While the Portal now has finally been pulled down off the site, it left confidential information exposed for a minimum of twelve hours. The data was likely downloaded hundreds of times and it leaves gun owners concerned about where their information may end up,” the association said.

“This is a privacy breach of stunning proportions,” the group added. “The incompetence that the Attorney General has displayed in allowing such sensitive data to be accessed is shocking.”

The California Department of Justice told The Reload and PCMagazine Monday that it is "investigating an exposure of individuals’ personal information connected to the DOJ Firearms Dashboard," adding, "Any unauthorized release of personal information is unacceptable.”

The state agency is "working swiftly to address this situation and will provide additional information as soon as possible," the spokesperson said.

And some local law enforcement officials in California said that concealed carry permit owners should make sure their homes are secure because home addresses were part of the data breach.

"It's concerning anytime information that specific is released to the public," Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims told ABC30 in reference to the leak. "Of course, what we tell the public all the time is to protect your personal information."

The Epoch Times has contacted the California Justice Department for comment.