Lawmakers in seven states are pushing to give confidentiality to people who have obtained permits to carry concealed handguns in a dispute that pits gun-rights advocates against several newspapers and open-government groups.
The drive to make gun-permit records confidential resulted from emotional, often angry objections after newspapers posted government records on the Internet that showed who had gun permits.
"The press wants to put a scarlet letter on these people," said Chris W. Cox, chief lobbyist for the National Rifle Association. "This serves no public good. It's potentially dangerous to post these lists."
On the other side are newspapers like the St. Petersburg Times, which recently urged the Florida Legislature to roll back the 2006 ban on public scrutiny of handgun permits under the headline "Guess which ones carry guns."
"The right to carry a concealed weapon should not trample the right to know who has a permit to carry one," the newspaper said. "Those carrying guns might feel safer, but what about everyone else who cannot know if their neighbor or co-worker is carrying one?"
Currently, 28 states have made gun permits confidential, 12 states treat them as open public records and 10 states generally do not grant permits to carry concealed weapons, according to the National Rifle Association. ...
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