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Senate panel advances bill on gun list
By The Associated Press
This article was published February 5, 2013 at 11:09 a.m.
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LITTLE ROCK — A Senate committee has advanced a bill to make secret the list of Arkansans permitted to carry concealed handguns.
The Senate State Agencies and Governmental Affairs Committee on Tuesday approved the measure from Republican Sen. Bruce Holland of Greenwood.
The legislation would exempt the concealed carry information from the state’s Freedom of Information Act. Current law only allows the names and ZIP codes of permit holders to be released.
The current law is the result of a compromise struck in 2009 after legislators originally backed making the entire list secret.
Holland says he filed his proposal in response to a New York newspaper that published the names and addresses of permit holders last year after the Connecticut school massacre. The bill now heads to the full Senate.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 total comments
Jackabbott says... February 5, 2013 at 1:32 p.m.
When you start to hide from the public then you are going down the path to an undemocratic government and society, What/why are these brave souls trying to hide???
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inquire says... February 5, 2013 at 1:49 p.m.
For the most part, I agree with you. Many things about our lives are matters of public record. I realize the gun owners fear that it could cause them to be targeted by thieves, yet our automobiles are registered with the state. In most counties, you can go online and see who owns what house, where it is, and how much it's worth. Easy for a thief to see which homes would probably have the best loot inside.
I'm pretty sure most of my neighbors have a shotgun. So be it. But if one of them has a ridiculous arsenal, I'd rather know it than not.
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2531USMC says... February 5, 2013 at 4:58 p.m.
Keeping the names and addresses of individuals with conceal carry permits available to only law enforcement serves a valid purpose. One example is to protect an individual who was viciously attacked an d almost killed, who will carry the scars both physically and emotionally along with nerve damage for the rest of her life. After years of attending parole hearings she was told that her attacker was to be paroled, which he was. Put yourself in her shoes, law enforcement was not able to protect her. This attack occurred in the blink of an eye. She was told that there would always be a possibility he might come after her, upon his release and that law enforcement couldn’t guarantee her safety. After speaking with authorities and her family it was suggested she get the training and obtain a concealed carry permit. If you were in her shoes would you want your name and address published? This isn’t a made up story it happened in Little Rock. Transparency is how our Republic should operate; it has nothing to do with an individual’s safety and security.
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arta says... February 5, 2013 at 8:09 p.m.
Have you ever heard of the legal term "invasion of privacy"? It refers to a person's right to keep his or her life private and free from the intrusion of others. The intrusion into the personal life of another, without just cause, can give the person whose privacy has been invaded a right to bring a lawsuit for damages against the person or entity that intruded. Civil rights include the ensuring of peoples' life and safety. Political rights include the right of self-defense.
Why stop with FOI of concealed carry? Why not publicly publish your credit scores, your children's names/ages and what schools they go to, your medical records, your grocery bill, what/how much you buy at the liquor store, what movies you rent and exactly what you do and where you go on the internet? Isn’t that all public record too? Why should hiding any of that have anything to do with you as an individual? What purpose would it possibly serve? Does removing that privacy take you down the path to an undemocratic government and society? Some think liberty is almost synonymous with democracy, at least in one sense of that word, while others see conflicts or even opposition between the two concepts, with democracy being nothing more than the tyranny of the majority. The phrase "tyranny of the majority" (or "tyranny of the masses"), used in discussing systems of democracy and majority rule, envisions a scenario in which decisions made by a majority place its interests so far above those of an individual or minority group as to constitute active oppression. Be careful of what rights you are willing to just throw away. You will never get them back if you make a wrong choice.
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inquire says... February 5, 2013 at 9:31 p.m.
Many personal things are a matter of public record. Many newspapers routinely publish the names of people getting married, divorced, having children, going bankrupt, being foreclosed on, or incorporating.
I knew one city where the chamber of commerce sent a weekly newsletter to members with the name of everyone in town who had gotten a loan, for how much, and from whom. All kinds of tidbits were in it for every business person in town to see.
You can go to the secretary of state's website and find out information about everyone who has ever incorporated a business in this state.
None of this, while sometimes interesting, affects my safety. Being more aware of who around me is armed might. If I think someone is mean, hot headed, not bright, or a drunk, then it would be a head's up to know they were wandering my town armed.
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YUBNARicardohead says... February 5, 2013 at 10:58 p.m.
When they start publishing these records and someone sees a house they plan on breaking in to steal guns but pick the wrong house and kill a homeowner with no guns, how will the story be spun? Criminals have a funny way of not caring
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