KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Two days after Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt said he would block an FBI audit on gun data, the FBI fired back with a statement Friday, calling their audit routine.
The FBI’s statement, posted Friday afternoon on social media, said Missouri has participated in the audit “multiple times, most recently in 2018.”
The audit seeks to obtain a “small sampling” of transactions from the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services Division, services the FBI says are used by national law enforcement and criminal justice communities.
In the statement, the FBI said their audit doesn’t require access to lists such as state-approved concealed carry holders.
— FBI Kansas City (@FBIKansasCity) July 15, 2022
On Wednesday, a letter from Schmitt to FBI Director Christopher Wray was made public, in which Schmitt claimed that Missouri law prevented the state from participating in the audit.
Schmitt, who is a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, said a Missouri law prohibits sharing the confidential lists collected by sheriff departments with federal, state or private entities. He also contended allowing federal agents to access the permit records would violate the Second Amendment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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