Democracy Forward and Gun control group sues ATF over records release

on June 05, 2026

The Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms and Tobacco (ATF) launched a new era of reform in 2025 focused on a commitment to transparency, accountability, and partnership with the firearms industry, gun owners, and the public. Under new leadership, the agency claimed to have fundamentally changed course, moving toward a model built on trust and collaboration.

However, a major gun control group is suing the ATF and the Justice Department over the federal agencies' failure to release documents and other information about who the largest sellers of crime guns in the U.S. are.

The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence is demanding in its lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Thursday that the court compel the ATF to release information related to what the agency calls Demand Letter 2s. These are letters ATF sends to gun dealers and other sellers that have been identified as selling at least 25 or more guns recovered at crime scenes in a calendar year.

Brady has collected this information from the ATF before and has used the information to compile it into tracking databases and reports on its website.

Just last year the ATF suspended the DL2 program after gun rights groups long criticized its existence.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation, a national trade association for the firearms industry that announced the break in the program back in June, said DL2 letters were just used to "'name-and-shame' firearm retailers for crimes in which they had no involvement."

Brady says in its complaint for injunctive relief that the organization submitted a Freedom of Information Act Request in February asking the ATF to hand over all DL2s issued by the agency to federal firearms licensees. Brady wants these letters issued during 2017 to 2021 and 2025. The ATF said it was withholding the requested letters, saying releasing this information would inadvertently disclose personal information, confidential trade secrets, commercial or financial details and could constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.

Case Information

Case No.: 1:26-cv-01980

Court: U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia 

           333 Constitution Avenue N.W. Washington D.C. 20001

Plaintiff: The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence & Democracy Forward

Defendants: The Department of Justice and ATF

Background

The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence is a nonprofit organization focused on advocating for gun control and reducing gun violence, while the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is a federal agency responsible for enforcing laws related to firearms and explosives, including regulating gun dealers and conducting background checks. The Demand Letter 2 (DL2) program is a federal firearms tracking initiative established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) in February 2000. It was created as a law enforcement tool to identify gun dealers linked to high volumes of crime weapons and to curb illegal gun trafficking.

The "Time-to-Crime" Trigger

An Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL)—commonly a gun store—is placed into the DL2 program if it meets a strict, data-driven threshold: 

Volume: The dealer must have 25 or more firearms traced back to their shop from law enforcement recoveries within a single calendar year. 

Timeframe: The "time-to-crime" must be three years or less. This means less than three years passed between the retail sale of the gun and the date police recovered it at a crime scene.

The Core Controversy and the Program's Current Status

The DL2 program has become a massive battleground between gun control organizations, the firearm industry, and varying presidential administrations: 

Proponents (Like the Brady Center): Point to ATF data showing that between 2000 and 2021, the program generated nearly 200,000 investigative leads for law enforcement. They argue it shines a light on a tiny fraction of rogue dealers responsible for the vast majority of crime guns.

Opponents (Like the NSSF): The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) and gun rights advocates criticize the program, stating it is used to "name-and-shame" lawful businesses for crimes committed by individuals long after the point of sale.

The 2025 "Pause": Following intense pressure from the gun industry, the ATF quietly paused and effectively ended the DL2 program.

The 2026 Lawsuit: The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence and Democracy Forward filed a lawsuit to compel the ATF to release historical DL2 records from 2017 to 2021 and 2025, which the ATF has withheld citing privacy and commercial trade secret exemptions. 

Michaela Rylaarsdam, 32, accepted a plea of involuntary manslaughter today. The defendant initially faced a second-degree murder charge in the case, but is now slated to be sentenced next month to four years in state prison in connection with the 2023 death of 55-year-old Michael Dale. 

Prosecutors allege videos recorded of the incident showed Dale with his wrists bound, a plastic bag over his head and duct tape over his mouth. Rylaarsdam ultimately called 911 for help but only after filming herself in a sex act and sharing it with her husband as Dale lay dying. The medical examiner ruled the cause of death to be asphyxiation and the manner of death to be homicide after determining that the bag had been wrapped around Dale's head for at least eight minutes. Dale died at a hospital the following day. Prosecutors allege the victim's death stemmed from oxygen deprivation primarily due to the items placed on his head.

Details of the case

The incident: On April 17, 2023, Dale paid Rylaarsdam $11,000 for a fetish act involving her "mummifying" him in plastic wrap and duct tape. During the encounter, prosecutors allege that Rylaarsdam wrapped Dale's head in plastic wrap and placed a plastic bag over his head, causing him to suffocate.

Video evidence

A video recovered from Rylaarsdam's phone allegedly shows Dale struggling to breathe for several minutes while Rylaarsdam continued to film.

Response

Rylaarsdam called 911 after realizing Dale was unresponsive and was attempting CPR when police arrived. Dale was later pronounced brain-dead and removed from life support.

Arrest and charge

Rylaarsdam was arrested in February 2025 and charged with second-degree murder. She initially pled not guilty and was held without bail. 

Defense argument

Rylaarsdam's attorney claims the activities were consensual and that she did not expect Dale to die. However, prosecutors have pointed to the video evidence and text messages exchanged with her husband during the incident, alleging they show a disregard for Dale's well-being. The victim pled for his life and even offered to pay to be released but was ignored. The video of her masturbating on camera while Dale was unresponsive shows that Rylaarsdam did not act on his distress within reason if it had just been sexual play.

Another issue the defense has raised was the other medical conditions of the victim as some sort of contributing factor, however, the chronic conditions of type 2 diabetes, hypertension and hepatitis are all treatable and would not have been a factor in his immediate death from asphyxiation.

Case Information

Defendant: Michaela Brashaye Rylaarsdam

Court No.: CN463804 

Arraignment Date: 9/25/2025 

Time: 8:30 AM

Court Information: San Diego County Superior Court - North County Regional Center

325 South Melrose Drive, Vista, CA 92081

Charge: Second degree murder

Arraignment is the formal process in a criminal trial where the defendant is brought before the court to hear the charges against them and to enter a plea, such as guilty or not guilty. This is typically one of the first steps in the legal proceedings following an arrest.

Cases of Note

People v. Gudiel, 107 Cal. App. 5th 848, 328 Cal. Rptr. 3d 578 (2024)

Petitioner, who was serving prison term of 15 years to life for his conviction for second-degree murder, sought resentencing. The Superior Court, Los Angeles County Judge Stephen A. Marcus, denied the petition and appealed. The Court of Appeals held that substantial evidence supported petitioner's conviction for implied malice second-degree murder, and, thus, petitioner was ineligible for resentencing.

Sentencing and Punishment

Killing while committing other offense or in course of criminal conduct satisfies the reckless indifference standard for felony murder special circumstances is qualitatively different than the conscious disregard standard for implied malice second degree murder. The reckless indifference standard actually requires a subjective awareness of a higher degree of risk than the conscious disregard for human life standard.

The Law

The following are the laws that should or could eventually be introduced or pled to in the case of the death of Michael dale.

California Penal Code § 193

Involuntary Manslaughter

(a) Voluntary manslaughter is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for 3, 6, or 11 years.

(b) Involuntary manslaughter is punishable by imprisonment pursuant to subdivision (h) of Section 1170 for two, three, or four years.

(c) Vehicular manslaughter is punishable as follows:

(1) A violation of paragraph (1) of subdivision (c) of Section 192 is punishable either by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year or by imprisonment in the state prison for two, four, or six years.

(2) A violation of paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 192 is punishable by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than one year.

(3) A violation of paragraph (3) of subdivision (c) of Section 192 is punishable by imprisonment in the state prison for 4, 6, or 10 years.