Beebe opposes bill on secret gun-permit list

— Gov. Mike Beebe says he doesn’t support a bill in the Senate that would keep the state’s list of concealed handgun permit holders secret.

Beebe said Tuesday that he’s generally opposed to attempts to restrict the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act.

The present law allows the release of the names and ZIP codes of permit holders. That law was passed two years ago as a compromise, when there was a push to make the entire list secret.

A Beebe spokesman says the 2009 law was an appropriate compromise and that the restrictions shouldn’t be taken further.

A newspaper in New York published names and addresses of permit holders in 2012 after the Newtown, Conn., school massacre.

Holland says his bill is a way to prevent similar a publication in Arkansas.

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