Indiana House Considers Restricting Access to Gun Owner Information

The Indiana House of Representative will consider a bill to restrict access to information about handgun permit holders, including a prohibition against the release of names, addresses, and other information about the gun owners.

More here.

Virginia Bill Would Block Public Access to Concealed Handgun Records

A Virginia state representative is sponsoring legislation that would prohibit a clerk of court from providing public access to concealed handgun permit applications and information without the written consent of the applicant or permittee.

Currently, individuals records are open for inspection at the courthouse of the locality that issued the permit, but the state does not maintain an electronic database.

Read more about the proposal here.

Concealed-weapon permit data: privacy vs. public interest

The News Media and the Law provided a comprehensive report on the increasing frequency of bills to close concealed-weapon permit data. Ginger Stanley of the Virginia Press Association said most legislative proposals to seal away this data can be traced back to a newspaper's use and/or publication of it. Sheriffs have had difficulty finding instances in which crimes were committed due to public access to permit data. However, there have been a slew of instances in which the data was used to inform the public when permitting failed, thereby risking the community.

It’s tough to call it a trend, exactly, when lawmakers in various states have long set their sights on sealing concealed-weapon permit data. But their efforts seem to be paying off more than ever: Since the beginning of 2008, at least seven states have considered legislation yanking permit-holder information from public files. Only one such battle looks to have yielded a complete win — for now — for open governance.

Newspapers from Oregon to Virginia, meanwhile, have inserted themselves or been thrust into the center of fiercely polarized debates over privacy, personal safety and the constitution. It was the Medford Mail Tribune’s 2007 request for the Jackson County, Ore., sheriff’s roster of local permit-holders that touched off a statewide rift between law enforcement and transparency advocates. It culminated in a legislative measure generally sealing the permits.

More here.

Tenn. Senate votes against closing access to handgun permits

A proposal to prevent access to the names of people who have handgun permits failed 14-13 in the Tennessee Senate, the AP reported. A compromise amendment that would have still closed the database but allowed some inspection of records also failed.

A measure to close access to the names of people holding state permits to carry loaded handguns failed last night in the state Senate. Opponents called the vote a victory for open government.

The proposal sponsored by Republican Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris of Collierville was defeated 14-13 in the Senate when it failed to get a majority vote. Norris didn't say whether he would try to revive the proposal, H.B. 0959, which passed the House 83-12 last month.

"This is not a gun bill, it's an open-records bill," said Senate Minority Leader Jim Kyle, D-Memphis. "This is about your open records and your open government. It has nothing to do with guns."

More here.

Newspaper sues to learn if governor's permit was suspended

The Nevada Supreme Court heard argument on whether information related to Gov. Jim Gibbons' concealed gun permit should be released to the Reno Gazette-Journal, the Las Vegas Sun reported. Gibbons said he doesn't carry a concealed gun but has a permit. He surrendered his license in January of last year after a delay in getting the required training to carry one of his guns. He says no disciplinary action was taken, but a reporter heard that his weapon permit might have been suspended or revoked.

Gov. Jim Gibbons said today he never carries a concealed gun, even though he has a permit to do so.

And he said he once surrendered his weapons permit but he was never disciplined.

The Nevada Supreme Court has heard arguments on whether the Reno Gazette-Journal was entitled to information that may show the weapons permit of Gibbons was revoked or suspended. A district court has ruled the newspaper is not entitled to that information.

More here.

Handgun bill passes Ore. House

A bill that would exempt handgun permit information from Oregon's open records law passed the state House and moves on to the Senate, the AP reported. The bill would allow local sheriffs to decide appeals to open the information on a case-by-case basis.

The Oregon House has overwhelmingly approved a bill to limit public release of information about concealed handgun permit holders.

The measure was endorsed Monday after supporters said making that information public would jeopardize the personal safety of concealed handgun permit holders.

The issue came up after news organizations and others sought to obtain lists of people with those permits.

More here.

Reworked gun permit bill wins House approval

The Oregon House Judiciary Committee unanimously approved a gun license bill, The Register-Guard reported. The bill was revised so that instead of classifying concealed handgun licenses as a flat exemption, it allows sheriffs to release the records if there is "clear and convincing evidence that the public interest requires disclosure."

Records on Oregonians who hold concealed handgun licenses would be kept confidential unless a county sheriff decides to make them available, under a bill passed by a House panel Wednesday.

For most of the 20 years since the 1989 law allowing Oregonians to obtain a license to carry a concealed handgun was enacted, the question of whether records on those license holders should be made public was not a matter of debate.

That all changed last April, when the Jackson County Circuit Court ruled that the names of individuals who request a concealed handgun license are public records unless the individuals specify that they don’t want any personal information released.

More here.

Alabama House passes gun permit legislation

Legislation that would exempt gun permit records from public records laws pops up in yet another state: Alabama. Proponents of the bill say releasing such records could subject permit holders to harassment by special interest groups and could lead thieves to target them, WTVY News 4 reported.

The identities of people with permits to carry concealed handguns may soon be a secret in Alabama.

A bill supported by the National Rifle Association has passed the House and may soon pass the Senate.

When a gun owner applies for a permit there are all kinds of information they fill out on the document including social security number, height, weight, race and more.

More here.

Revised gun bill passes Ark. Senate

The Arkansas Senate passed a bill that was revised to keep the names and zip codes of concealed handgun permit-holders public while exempting all other permit information from FOIA, the Arkansas News reported. The original bill sought to exempt all permit information, but the sponsor of the bill agreed to a compromise with the Arkansas Press Association.

Legislation that would keep the names and zip codes of the holders of concealed handgun permits public but exempt other information from the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act received Senate approval Monday.

“This bill does very little,” Sen. Jerry Taylor, D-Pine Bluff, said while presenting House Bill 1623 in the Senate. The measure, which passed 34-0, now goes to the House for concurrence on an amendment.

The House, meanwhile, approved a bill that would give certain inmates serving life sentences more opportunities to apply for a pardon or commutation.

More here.

W. Va. Senate to vote on gun bill this week

The debate over whether the public should have access to concealed-weapons permits continues in West Virginia, The Register-Herald (W.Va.) reported. Although the Senate plans to vote on a bill to prohibit public access, a different piece of legislation is being crafted in the House of Delegates to retain the public's right to know.

A renewed battle over the public’s right to access permits to carry concealed weapons is playing out in both chambers of the West Virginia Legislature this week.

A vote is planned at mid-week in the Senate on SB378 that is designed basically as a reciprocity pact, one that allows West Virginia and other states to recognize each other’s concealed permits when residents travel to and from one another.

Attached to that proposal, however, is a controversial provision that says the public has no right to pry into government records through a Freedom of Information Act request to see just who is allowed to pack a hidden firearm in public.

More here.

Colbert Report addresses gun-permit privacy war

Stephen Colbert says he "longs for a day when gun owners no longer have to hide their relationship with their concealed weapons." This five-minute video features Colbert's thoughts on the Memphis Commercial Appeal's decision to post a handgun-carry permit database online.

More here.

Ark. House supports concealed handgun bill

An Arkansas bill to exempt records regarding concealed-carry permits from the state FOIA cleared a House committee and will now advance to the full House, where support is widespread, Arkansas News reported.

A bill to prohibit the release of the names and other information of Arkansans who hold permits to carry concealed handguns cleared a House committee Thursday.

House Bill 1623 by Rep. Randy Stewart, D-Kirby, received a “do pass” from the House Judiciary Committee. The bill would make records regarding concealed-carry permits exempt from the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.

Stewart, a former Olympic shooter, filed the bill after a weekly newspaper made a list of the names and addresses of permit holders in the state available on its Web site last month.

More here.

Tenn. bill to close handgun records passes House subcommittee

The Tennessee House subcommittee pushed along a bill to close gun-permit application records, The Tennessean reported. Next, the full House Judiciary Committee will discuss the bill, which allows $2,500 fines for disclosing the records.

A House subcommittee passed a series of gun-related bills Wednesday that would allow handgun carry permit holders to carry their guns in restaurants, wildlife areas and state, but not local, parks.

A bill that would close handgun records to the public also passed the House Judiciary Criminal Practice Subcommittee, where about a dozen gun bills were heard. The session was a victory for House Republicans. House Speaker Rep. Kent Williams, an Elizabethton Republican, attended in a show of support for a bill that would allow handguns in wildlife areas.

During the meeting Williams sided with Democratic Rep. Janis Sontany to encourage lawmakers to remove local parks from a bill that would allow handguns in parks throughout the state.

More here.

Debate over release of gun permit databases fires up in Tenn.

For $80.50, the Tennessee Department of Safety will release the name, date of birth, address and permit issue and expiration dates for all gun permit holders. However, obtaining that information may soon be impossible, and printing it may result in a $2,500 fine, the AP reported. A bill to make gun permit databases confidential and publication of them punishable by fines will go before the House Criminal Practice Subcommittee on Wednesday.

Tennessee lawmakers are ready again to try to muzzle state records that list who has a permit to carry a concealed handgun, and this time they are considering making it a crime to publish information about gun ownership.

The measure sponsored by Rep. Eddie Bass, a Democrat from Prospect, would make information on gun permit holders confidential and exempt from the state's open records law. The bill is scheduled for a hearing Wednesday by the House Criminal Practice Subcommittee.

For 12 years, similar legislation has failed to make it to a floor vote, but this year's version has a new twist and a better chance of passage now that Democrats who previously blocked the bill, including former Speaker Jimmy Naifeh, no longer control the House.

More here.

Bill to close gun permit records gains support from sheriffs, legislators

Oregon legislators, sheriffs and gun-owner groups are rounding support for a bill that would exempt lists of concealed handgun permits from state public records laws, the AP reported.

Sheriffs around Oregon have been sending an unusual letter to holders of concealed weapons permits with this message: If you don't want the public to know you've got a permit, we'll try to help you out.

The letter from the sheriffs says newspapers and others are trying to get lists of people who have concealed handgun permits, sparking a legal challenge that's pending in the Oregon Court of Appeals.

And as the appeals court mulls the issue, Oregon lawmakers are pursuing legislation to take those records completely out of public view by prohibiting their release under the Oregon public records law.

More here.

Poynter: Journalists should give reasons for publishing gun permit lists

Al Tompkins of the Poynter Institute wrote in his daily column that journalists should not publish databases, such as gun permit databases, just because they are public records. Journalists should explain why they are publishing it, he said. Gun supporters have argued against the publication of these records for years, and Tennessee is considering making such publication a felony.

The Tennessee legislature is considering legislation that would make it a felony to publish the state's concealed carry gun permits [PDF].

For the last 10 years, gun backers in that state have bragged that permitted gun carriers aren't ever charged with gun crimes. That changed this week when a Memphis area man who had a permit and a gun shot another guy and was charged with second degree-murder.

The Commercial Appeal in Memphis proceeded to post the state's concealed carry permit list, and now gun backers are pitching a fit.

More here.

Should gun-carry permit applications be public?

Many permit owners are uncomfortable knowing that their addresses, gun purchases and other personal information, such as past addictions, are public records. On the other hand, public gun permit databases could help keep firearms out of the hands of criminals. John Harris, executive director of the Tennessee Firearms Association, said the House committees that deal with Second Amendment issues favor privacy.

What some are calling a matter of privacy, others are calling a dangerous idea. At issue is whether or not applications for gun-carry permits should be kept confidential.

Getting a permit isn't only about learning the rules; a lot of personal information must be given up.

"You have to answer a lot of questions," said John Harris, executive director of the Tennessee Firearms Association. "Like, for example, 'How were you discharged from the military?' 'Have you ever been addicted to any kind of alcohol or other substances?' 'Have you ever had any psychiatric problems?' A lot of information is disclosed on the forms that really shouldn't be public."

More here.

Concealed-Carry Secrecy Dies in Tennessee...

Not sure I can follow the political theater here, but the bottom line is that Tennessee remains one of the only states where citizens can still scrutinize concealed-carry permits...

A proposal to make secret the names and addresses of Tennesseans who have handgun carry permits died in a whirlwind of political intrigue Wednesday, aided by state House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh.

First, freshman House member Henry Fincher engineered a vote on the bill while two of its opponents — two of his more senior colleagues — were out of the room.

More here.

Ohio Gun Permits: Yours to Memorize

Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann sided with law enforcement and concealed-carry gun advocates in an opinion prohibiting journalists from writing down, or in any way recording, the names of gun owners kept by county sheriffs.

Ohio law allows reporters to inspect records of concealed-carry permit-holders but prohibits them from obtaining copies of the records.

The attorney general opinion stated the ban on copying the records extends to a journalist walking out of a county sheriff's office with anything other than what he's committed to memory.

The legal opinion by the state's top law enforcement officer was recently issued after a request by the Trumbull County prosecutor for clarification of last year's change in the state's public records law to prevent a reporter from copying data on the issuance of permits to carry hidden handguns. "Because the only actions a journalist may take with respect to the names, counties of residence, and dates of birth described [in the law] is to see such information, we read the prohibition against a journalist's copying such information as applying to the reproduction of the viewed information by any means, including those you specifically mention - hand-copying, handwritten notes, and dictation," Mr. Dann wrote in a letter to the prosecutor.

More here.