Court of Appeals rules some concealed-handgun permit lists are public records

Oregon, June 23, 2010 -- Some lists bearing the names of holders of concealed-handgun permits must be disclosed under the state public-records law, the Oregon Court of Appeals ruled.

The case arose when the Mail Tribune newspaper in Medford and others sought to obtain lists of people with those permits in 2007. But Sheriff Mike Winters declined to make public the records of an estimated 6,500 permit holders in Jackson County, prompting the lawsuit.

A three-judge panel of the Court of Appeals upheld a 2008 circuit court ruling in favor of the newspaper.

Read more here.

Disclosure of Concealed-Handgun Permits Weighed by Oregon Court of Appeals

Attorneys have argued the case pending before the Oregon Court of Appeals to decide whether Oregon's sheriffs must disclose the holder of concealed-handgun permits under the state's public records law. The lower court ruled in favor of the newspaper and openness of public records. There is no deadline for the court to render its decision.

The case stems from the Mail Tribune's request to obtain the list of people with concealed-handgun permits in 2007. The Jackson County sheriff refused to make the records public, arguing that privacy concerns weighed against disclosure. An attorney for the sheriff said he was asserting a right of privacy for the permit holders, asserting it may be "stigmatizing" for permit holders to have that information made public.

The Mail Tribune's attorney disagrees and argues that the concealed-handgun permit form at the time contained an acknowledgement that the information was subject to state public records law.

Click here for more info.

South Carolina Latest State to Exempt Concealed Weapons Permits

In a fine example of the powerful tendency for bad exemptions to sweep across the nation, USA Today updates the issue:

South Carolina last week became the latest in a growing number of states to make the names of people who have a license to carry a concealed weapon a state secret.

Five other states might not be far behind in a battle that pits a public policy of open government against the right of people to keep their gun ownership records private.

Bills that would make concealed gun permit records confidential have been introduced in eight other states this year — Alabama, Louisiana, Missouri, New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia — according to Janna Goodwin of the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Concealed weapons exemption passes in VA...

The House of Delegates passed legislation today that would allow information about Virginians with permits to carry concealed handguns to be kept off limits to the public.

House Bill 982, sponsored by Del. Dave Nutter, R-Christiansburg, was originally intended to exempt a state police database of permit-holders from the Virginia Freedom of Information Act. The bill was amended Thursday to allow circuit court clerks to deny public access to the information, and prohibit them from releasing anything more than the names of people who are granted permits.

The bill passed the House by a vote of 97-1 and now heads to the Senate.

Nutter filed the bill in response to a controversy sparked last year by The Roanoke Times, which posted a state police database of concealed carry permit holders on its Web site and published an editorial writer’s column encouraging readers to access the list. Widespread complaints prompted the newspaper to remove the data from its site.