I’ve written before about the FOIA process, and how it was a liberal/Democrat invention, but is increasingly being used by conservatives and libertarians. I’ve also written about how Climategate would have been trivial if the principal parties involved had obeyed the law, and answered FOIA (and the UK counterpart, FOI) requests completely and in good faith.

I’ve also written about how FOIA avoidance is becoming standard procedure all across government. Over at PJM, Bob Owens (Confederate Yankee) writes of a tale of sunshine avoidance by the BATF that is so bad, it sounds like they’re taking their advice from the same people who were advising Jones and Mann:

Customs has refused to answer questions addressed to them about the seizure, referring all claims to the ATF. As a result, Pajamas Media filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the ATF, asking in part for:

Documentation relating to the determination. … [C]opies of written documentation and video or photographic evidence showing how ATF technicians were able to convert the lower to fire real ammunition, and information of what occurred when the converted weapon was fired. … [C]opies of email and print communications within the ATF regarding this issue, and copies of email and print communications between ATF and CBP related to this issue.

The ATF’s written response to the FOIA request was less than helpful. Instead of providing information about the WE Tech rifles seized from Airsoft Outlet Northwest at the Port of Tacoma, Washington, ATF responded with what appeared to be a clumsy bait-and-switch:

We would like to bring to your attention our oversight on the subject of your request in our letter dated April 13, 2010; Springfield, Inc instead of record pertaining to Airsoft rifles intercepted by Customs and Border Protection; as maintained by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

Perhaps an expert in FOIA law can explain this interesting redirection to those of us less versed in the finer points of the legalities, but it would seem quite bizarre that an agency subject to FOIA requests has the authority to randomly determine that the requester really wanted something entirely different … and entirely useless. Airsoft Outlet Northwest’s Ben Martin confirmed receiving apparently identical information in response to their FOIA request as well.

Instead of providing reasonable, simple answers to reasonable, simple questions (along the lines of “how did the ATF come to the determination that these Airsoft rifles were machine guns?”), the agency passed along a series of heavily redacted documents about:

• Sigma Airsoft silencers (not WE Tech Airsoft rifles)
• seized in Phoenix, AZ (not Tacoma, WA)
• in 2004 (not 2009-10

To bring everybody up to speed (if you don’t want to read the article), this is in regard to the wrongful seizure of a shipment of plastic BB guns by the BATF under the ludicrous pretense that they could be converted into machine guns.

So…

Exactly like the climate guys, they answer the wrong question, and they send the answer to the wrong question to everyone making any kind of request.

Hide the decline? No, hide the BB guns. They’re dangerous!