BOSTON (September 19, 2018) — Two constitutional rights advocates have filed a new lawsuit against Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey after she denied them access to public records about “3D printed” guns and related issues.

Plaintiffs Brent Carlton and Brandon Combs each filed two requests for public records with the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office. But on August 29, Lorraine A.G. Tarrow, Healey’s Assistant Attorney General & Records Access Officer, sent Carlton and Combs a letter denying all of the requests, leading to the lawsuit.

“Please be advised that the AGO is currently involved in litigation and one or more investigations concerning ‘3Dprinted guns.’ The disclosure of any records related to these ongoing matters that have been and continue to be compiled by this Office would divulge our litigation, prelitigation, and investigative strategies and reveal our sources of information such that our legal and enforcement positions would be compromised,” she wrote. “We cannot provide any more specificity about the requested records without disclosing these AGO legal and investigative strategies.”

Attorney Jeffrey Scrimo, Esq., of Lenox, Mass., filed the lawsuit on behalf of the plaintiffs. Attorney General Healey’s “response and refusal to comply with the plaintiffs’ public records requests constitutes a breach of its obligations as set forth in Massachusetts General Laws,” he said in the complaint.

“Although Attorney General Healey likes to talk about the importance of the rule of law, she seems to think that the law does not apply to her office when it comes to her incessant political grand-standing, particularly regarding guns,” said Brent Carlton, the lead plaintiff and president of Commonwealth Second Amendment (Comm2A).

Carlton is joined in the case by Brandon Combs, who also sent records requests to Attorney General Healey on behalf of himself and advocacy organizations Firearms Policy Coalition, Firearms Policy Foundation, The Calguns Foundation, and California Association of Federal Firearms Licensees.

A copy of the complaint, the requests filed by Carlton and Combs, and A.G. Healey’s letters denying the requests can be viewed or downloaded at www.firearmspolicy.org/carlton-v-healey.

Commonwealth Second Amendment (www.comm2a.org) is a 501(c)(3) grassroots civil rights organization dedicated to promoting a better understanding of rights guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. Activities include educational programs designed to promote a better understanding of Massachusetts and Federal firearms laws and rights as well as programs to defend and protect the civil rights of Massachusetts gun owners.

Firearms Policy Coalition (www.firearmspolicy.org) is a 501(c)4 grassroots nonprofit organization. FPC’s mission is to defend the Constitution of the United States, especially the fundamental, individual Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, through advocacy, legal action, education, and outreach.

Firearms Policy Foundation (www.firearmsfoundation.org) is a 501(c)3 grassroots nonprofit organization. FPF’s mission is to defend the Constitution of the United States and the People’s rights, privileges and immunities deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition, especially the inalienable, fundamental, and individual right to keep and bear arms.

The Calguns Foundation (www.calgunsfoundation.org) is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that serves its members, supporters, and the public through educational, cultural, and judicial efforts to advance Second Amendment and related civil rights.

California Association of Federal Firearm Licensees (www.calffl.org) is California’s advocacy group for Second Amendment and related economic rights. CAL-FFL members include firearm dealers, training professionals, shooting ranges, collectors, gun owners, and others who participate in the firearms ecosystem.

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