Firearm Policies, Procedures & Guidelines (Office of the Attorney General - Washington)
| Submitted | June 17, 2016 |
| Due | June 24, 2016 |
| Est. Completion | None |
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Communications
From: Caroline Curtis
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to RCW Ch. 42.56 (Public Records Act), I hereby request the following records:
Any and all policies, procedures, directives, memorandums, and any other guiding materials regarding matters pertaining to firearm acquisition, licensure, use, and transfer, including, but not limited to, the following:
• policies and procedures on the issuance of firearms permits and licenses. (Please note that this point is not a request for the identities of individual permit or license holders, but, rather, is a request for governmental policies and parameters regarding the process and regulations by which one may obtain either a permit or a license. If separate strictures exist for each, provision of both would be greatly appreciated.)
• policies and procedures on the revocation of firearms permits and licenses.
• any and all available policies and procedures regarding local firearms policies. Please provide all such materials that alter or supplement departmental procedures.
• policies and procedures regarding the sale and purchase of firearms. Please include all materials regarding the appropriate qualifications for the sale or purchase of firearms. Please include materials for particular venues, if available, including but not limited to the sale and purchase of firearms at gun shows.
• policies and procedures regarding the transfer, either out-of-state or between individuals, of firearms.
Please include all available segregable data.
Please also provide all available data, statistics, or reports regarding matters pertaining to gun acquisition, licensure, use, and transfer, including, but not limited to, the following:
• the issuance of firearms permits and licenses.
• the revocation of firearms permits and licenses.
• incidents involving the use of a firearm.
• the sale and purchase of firearms.
• the transfer, either out-of-state or between individuals, of firearms.
If various policies or reports exist dependent on the type of firearm, provision of all applicable materials would be greatly appreciated. Should they be voluminous, provision of materials on rolling basis would be greatly appreciated.
Should your agency believe that any additional policies, procedures, reports or other analysis pertaining to firearm acquisition, licensure, use, transfer, deaths, incidents, or any related issues may reside with another agency or agencies, indication of such agencies would be greatly appreciated.
Please notify us if further clarification is necessary.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Caroline Curtis
From: ATG MI PRR Correspondence
From: House, Natasha (ATG)
June 30, 2016
Ms. Caroline Curtis
MuckRock
requests@muckrock.com<mailto:requests@muckrock.com>
RE: Public Records Request Received June 17, 2016
File Number: PRR-2016-00258
Dear Ms. Curtis:
The purpose of this email is to seek clarification of your public records request. You requested the following:
Any and all policies, procedures, directives, memorandums, and any other guiding materials regarding matters pertaining to firearm acquisition, licensure, use, and transfer, including, but not limited to, the following:
• policies and procedures on the issuance of firearms permits and licenses. (Please note that this point is not a request for the identities of individual permit or license holders, but, rather, is a request for governmental policies and parameters regarding the process and regulations by which one may obtain either a permit or a license. If separate strictures exist for each, provision of both would be greatly appreciated.)
• policies and procedures on the revocation of firearms permits and licenses.
• any and all available policies and procedures regarding local firearms policies. Please provide all such materials that alter or supplement departmental procedures.
• policies and procedures regarding the sale and purchase of firearms. Please include all materials regarding the appropriate qualifications for the sale or purchase of firearms. Please include materials for particular venues, if available, including but not limited to the sale and purchase of firearms at gun shows.
• policies and procedures regarding the transfer, either out-of-state or between individuals, of firearms.
Please include all available segregable data.
Please also provide all available data, statistics, or reports regarding matters pertaining to gun acquisition, licensure, use, and transfer, including, but not limited to, the following:
• the issuance of firearms permits and licenses.
• the revocation of firearms permits and licenses.
• incidents involving the use of a firearm.
• the sale and purchase of firearms.
• the transfer, either out-of-state or between individuals, of firearms.
If various policies or reports exist dependent on the type of firearm, provision of all applicable materials would be greatly appreciated. Should they be voluminous, provision of materials on rolling basis would be greatly appreciated.
Should your agency believe that any additional policies, procedures, reports or other analysis pertaining to firearm acquisition, licensure, use, transfer, deaths, incidents, or any related issues may reside with another agency or agencies, indication of such agencies would be greatly appreciated.
Firearm licensure, permitting and purchasing is administered by local law enforcement agencies in conjunction with the Department of Licensing. These agencies may have the specific policies and procedures you are seeking. RCW 9.41<http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=9.41> details the firearms and dangerous weapons laws and regulations for Washington State and may provide much of the information you are requesting.
Our office does not issue firearm permits or licenses, nor do we process firearm sales or transfers. However we may have given legal advice to state agencies that are involved in these processes. Please consider this our request for clarification pursuant to RCW 42.56.520. Is your request for policies, procedures, directives, memos, and guiding material specific to the Office of the Attorney General? Are you seeking copies of any agency’s policies, procedures, directives, memos, and guiding material that may be in our possession through client advice? Do you want records that merely discuss firearm policies, procedures, directives, memos, and guiding material but do not include the referenced documents? We may also hold various documents related to federal firearm laws or cases related to firearm possession that date back several decades. Do you wish to receive copies of these types of records?
Clarifying the scope of your request would assist us greatly in our search as well as reducing the processing and production time. We also wish to make sure we are providing the records that you desire and not complicating the response by providing records that you do not want. Please provide the requested clarification by July 29, 2016. If you have any questions, please contact the undersigned. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Natasha House
Senior Public Records Officer
Public Records & Constituent Services
-
~WRD000
From: Caroline Curtis
Hi Ms. House,
I apologize for the delay in my response. I am happy to clarify. My request for policies, procedures, directives, memos, and guiding material is applicable to the Attorney General, but if your office is not in possession of those, I would appreciate if you could direct me to where I might find them.
If you could clarify the client advice question- would these materials be such policies, etc. that you've provided or assisted with for other state agencies? If so, we would like those, as well as any other relevant opinions, etc. However, if there is an abundance, we can discuss limiting the response.
And to your question about receiving documents I requested but without the referenced documents themselves: I am mostly interested in the primary source and active policies. However, I would also be interested in any communications, drafts, etc., as you mention, discussing these reference policies, procedures, directives, memos,, etc. Could you give me a sense of the volume of such documents?
Referring to materials that go back several decades, I am primarily interested in documents that are still currently applicable. Would it be possible to get a sense of how many documents you have spanning several decades?
And thank you so much for your help with this.
Best,
Caroline Curtis
From: House, Natasha (ATG)
July 6, 2016
Ms. Caroline Curtis
MuckRock
requests@muckrock.com<mailto:requests@muckrock.com>
RE: Public Records Request Received June 17, 2016
File Number: PRR-2016-00258
Dear Ms. Curtis:
This email is in response to your recent clarification email received on July 1, 2016 regarding your public records request. You requested the following:
Any and all policies, procedures, directives, memorandums, and any other guiding materials regarding matters pertaining to firearm acquisition, licensure, use, and transfer, including, but not limited to, the following:
• policies and procedures on the issuance of firearms permits and licenses. (Please note that this point is not a request for the identities of individual permit or license holders, but, rather, is a request for governmental policies and parameters regarding the process and regulations by which one may obtain either a permit or a license. If separate strictures exist for each, provision of both would be greatly appreciated.)
• policies and procedures on the revocation of firearms permits and licenses.
• any and all available policies and procedures regarding local firearms policies. Please provide all such materials that alter or supplement departmental procedures.
• policies and procedures regarding the sale and purchase of firearms. Please include all materials regarding the appropriate qualifications for the sale or purchase of firearms. Please include materials for particular venues, if available, including but not limited to the sale and purchase of firearms at gun shows.
• policies and procedures regarding the transfer, either out-of-state or between individuals, of firearms.
Please include all available segregable data.
Please also provide all available data, statistics, or reports regarding matters pertaining to gun acquisition, licensure, use, and transfer, including, but not limited to, the following:
• the issuance of firearms permits and licenses.
• the revocation of firearms permits and licenses.
• incidents involving the use of a firearm.
• the sale and purchase of firearms.
• the transfer, either out-of-state or between individuals, of firearms.
If various policies or reports exist dependent on the type of firearm, provision of all applicable materials would be greatly appreciated. Should they be voluminous, provision of materials on rolling basis would be greatly appreciated.
Should your agency believe that any additional policies, procedures, reports or other analysis pertaining to firearm acquisition, licensure, use, transfer, deaths, incidents, or any related issues may reside with another agency or agencies, indication of such agencies would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you for your clarification. Please see the answers to your questions below as well as additional clarifying questions.
If you could clarify the client advice question- would these materials be such policies, etc. that you've provided or assisted with for other state agencies? If so, we would like those, as well as any other relevant opinions, etc. However, if there is an abundance, we can discuss limiting the response.
At this time we cannot confirm whether our client advice files would contain advice about firearm licensing policies and procedures, but if you would like us to search for these types of records we would be happy to do so. We are unable to provide an estimate of the number of files this may relate to at this time due to the fact that many of our divisions will have to conduct individual searches to determine whether they have responsive records to this portion of your request. Please notify our office no later than August 5, 2016 whether you wish to receive records from client advice files.
And to your question about receiving documents I requested but without the referenced documents themselves: I am mostly interested in the primary source and active policies.
However, I would also be interested in any communications, drafts, etc., as you mention, discussing these reference policies, procedures, directives, memos,, etc. Could you give me a sense of the volume of such documents?
An initial search of email records returned over 9,000 emails that will need to be individually reviewed for responsiveness. We are unable to provide an estimate of the number of non-email items at this time due to the fact that many of our divisions will have to conduct individual searches to determine whether they have responsive records to this portion of your request. Please notify our office no later than August 5, 2016 how you would like us to proceed in regard to these types of records.
Referring to materials that go back several decades, I am primarily interested in documents that are still currently applicable. Would it be possible to get a sense of how many documents you have spanning several decades?
We have located a limited number of documents from the 1950s relating to federal gun purchase laws but are unsure of the current applicability of these laws. We may also have case records related to prohibitions on felons possessing firearms. We are unable to provide an estimate of the number of files this may relate to at this time due to the fact that many of our divisions will have to conduct individual searches to determine the number of responsive records related to this portion of your request. Please notify our office no later than August 5, 2016 whether you wish to receive these records.
Thank you for your assistance in clarifying your request. We look forward to receiving further clarification from you so we may ensure we are providing the records that you seek in a timely manner.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Natasha House
Senior Public Records Officer
Public Records & Constituent Services
(360) 586-3568
-
~WRD000
From: Caroline Curtis
Hi Ms. House,
Thank you for all your help and patience with this request. I think for the time being I will review the policies provided in the link RCW 9.41 that details firearms and dangerous weapons laws and regulations in Washington, and get back to you if we decide we want to pursue the other documents we have been discussing thus far.
Thanks again,
Caroline Curtis
From: House, Natasha (ATG)
July 8, 2016
Dear Ms. Curtis,
Thank you for your below email. Would you like me to close your current request? Just as a reminder, you may submit a new request at any time.
Natasha House
Senior Public Records Officer
Public Records & Constituent Services
-
~WRD000
From: Caroline Curtis
Hi Ms. House,
Yes, closing it is fine. Thanks again for your help!
Best,
Caroline Curtis
From: House, Natasha (ATG)
Thank you. The request is now considered closed. Have a great day.
Natasha House
Senior Public Records Officer
Public Records & Constituent Services
-
~WRD000
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