The New York Police Department (NYPD) is being sued for refusing to release information about handgun permits held by President Trump and his two eldest sons.
The lawsuit, first reported on Thursday by Courthouse News, was filed Thursday in Manhattan Supreme Court by the Daily Dot, a news and opinion website that tried to obtain records about the license applications in January.
“The Daily Dot and the public have a right to access public records evidencing the Trumps’ ability and need to carry handguns in one of the strictest arms licensing states in the country,” the suit claims.
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The Daily Dot tried to acquire records through a Freedom of Information Act request that, the suit alleges, was denied by NYPD officials.
Court papers allege that NYPD Lt. Richard Mantellino said the request was “an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy under the New York Public Officers law” and “would endanger the life or safety of the applicants.”
The Daily Dot alleges that the safety exemption is no longer applicable since Trump and his adult sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, have uninterrupted Secret Service protection.
The Hill has reached out to the White House for comment regarding the status of the president’s permits and handgun ownership.
Trump claimed in a 2012 interview that he owned a .45 caliber Heckler & Koch sidearm and a .38 caliber Smith & Wesson revolver.
“I do carry on occasion, sometimes a lot. I like to be unpredictable,” Trump said during a GOP presidential debate in 2015.
After the 2015 terrorist attacks in Paris, however, Trump said he “always” carries a gun.
“I always carry a weapon on me,” Trump told a French magazine early in 2016.
“If I’d been at the Bataclan or one of those bars, I would have opened fire. Perhaps I would have died, but at least I would have taken a shot. The worst thing is the powerlessness to respond to those who want to kill you,” Trump said, referencing the attacks that left more than 100 dead.
–Updated 3:21 p.m.