Rep. Randy Stewart
Word around town is that lawmakers are developing legislation to limit the amount of information that’s publicly available on concealed carry permit holders.
Rep. Randy Stewart, a Democrat representing District 23, confirms he expects to introduce the bill on Wednesday. Stewart says it’s “simply a bill to prohibit the release of the identities or other information concerning concealed handgun licensees with an exception for law enforcement agencies.”
The news will warm the hearts of members of the Arkansas Concealed Carry Association, who’ve been calling for just such an action.
The move to protect the records follows last week’s controversy in which Max Brantley at the Arkansas Times published the full list of permit holders, to the alarm and consternation of many. (He’s since removed the list from his site.) You can listen to Max explain his reasoning on Bob Steel’s KARN show this morning.
(Has this been reported anywhere else yet? I haven’t seen it, but that doesn’t mean anything. Sometimes I zone out on legislative coverage, and I just find it impossible to believe that I, the laziest blogger in the entire state of Arkansas, might have something first. That doesn’t happen. If someone else had it first, blogger or real media, let me know and I’ll link to it.)
Comments