https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/missouri-sheriff-says-even-under-threat-of-arrest-he-will-not-release-gun-owners-info-to-fbi/ar-AAZKCNU
Missouri sheriff says even under 'threat of arrest' he will not release gun owners' info to FBI
Emma Colton - 6h ago
Missouri officials are slamming a planned FBI audit of various sheriff’s offices in the state, saying the audit is an attempt "to illegally obtain" information on concealed carry permit holders. One sheriff, in particular, said that even under a threat of federal arrest, he will not comply and release the concealed carry information.
"As the sheriff of Scotland County, I want all my citizens to know that I will not allow, cooperate or release any CCW information to the FBI, ‘even at the threat of a federal arrest,’" Republican Scotland County Sheriff Bryan Whitney wrote to residents of his community on Monday.
"Point Blank, ‘I will go down with the ship if need be,’" the letter, which was reviewed by Fox News Digital on Tuesday, said.
Whitney said he was prompted to send the letter to his community in northeastern Missouri after he was alerted to the FBI audit set to be carried out in 24 counties in Missouri next month. It’s unclear which counties will be included in the audit.
Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt also demanded that the FBI "cease their attempts to illegally obtain information from local sheriffs on Missourians who have concealed carry permits," and sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray on the matter last week.
"The FBI has absolutely no business poking around in the private information of those who have obtained a concealed carry permit in Missouri," Schmitt said, according to a press release. "The Second Amendment rights of Missourians will absolutely not be infringed on my watch. I will use the full power of my Office to stop the FBI, which has become relentlessly politicized and has virtually no credibility, from illegally prying around in the personal information of Missouri gun owners."
Schmitt outlined to Wray that under Missouri law it is illegal to share the confidential list with the federal government. The law was passed after "it became known that the Obama Administration wanted to know which Missourians had firearms, supposedly to establish who was entitled to federal benefits."