The rollout of a new digital platform by California’s top law enforcement agency led to a data breach exposing identifying information of every Concealed Carry Weapons permit holder in the state, officials with the California State Sheriff’s Association and Fresno County Sheriff’s Office announced Tuesday.
Monday, the California Department of Justice launched its 2022 Firearms Dashboard Portal aiming to increase transparency on firearms-related data.
As designed, the portal was meant to display data on dealer record of sales, gun violence restraining orders, concealed carry weapon permits, firearms safety certificates, assault weapons, and a roster of certified handguns.
Instead, the site allowed records on CCW permits to display personal information of all permit holders.
The personal data included names, ages, addresses, Criminal Identification Index numbers, and CCW license types of California carry permit holders.
The site was pulled by state officials amid the outcry over the breach. As of Tuesday evening, it had not been restored.
Gun advocates were outraged over the breach in data, theorizing that it was possible California Attorney General Rob Bonta was aiming to intimidate CCW holders in the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that eased restrictions on acquiring CCW permits by invalidating so-called “good cause” rules.
