The University of California, San Francisco’s (UCSF) Industry Documents Library (IDL), has established the Firearms Industry Document Archive (FAIDA) with the Fleet Farm Collection consisting of 694 documents.
The documents were obtained during Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison’s 2022 lawsuit, which alleged that Fleet Farm, a 50-store chain that sells firearms, hunting equipment, and other goods in five Midwestern states, negligently sold firearms to straw buyers (people who purchase firearms on behalf of another person) and contributed to gun trafficking in Minnesota. One of the guns sold to a straw purchaser was later fired in a mass shooting, which killed one person and injured 14.
Under the February 2026 settlement, Fleet Farm agreed to significant policy changes to help prevent straw purchases, pay a $1 million penalty, and publicly release the records. A few sample documents are below.
About the IDL and FAIDA
The Industry Documents Library collects, preserves, and provides free public access to internal documents from industries that affect public health. Its collections include records from the tobacco, opioid, chemical, drug, fossil fuel, and food industries. The Fleet Farm records are the first addition to a new archive of firearms industry documents (FAIDA), which serves as a resource for researchers, policymakers, journalists, and the public to better understand corporate practices and inform future research, legal action, and public policy.
Support for IDL’s FAIDA comes from the Firearms Accountability Initiative, a collaborative, nonpartisan effort to hold the firearms industry accountable for its role in American gun violence.
Learn more
- Read the UCSF press release and the Minnesota Attorney General’s press release
- Attend the September 16, 2026 IDL Virtual Office Hour to ask questions about navigating the new collection