Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Decision remains to make conceal carry permit records public, private

The right to carry a concealed weapon is now Kansas law, but there is still controversy surrounding the regulations.

It was a fight to get a concealed weapons law passed, but the struggle is not over.

The debate now centers on whether the records of citizens who get the permits will be open to the public.

"I think there's no reason for that. I don't know what could be gained by having a list of these people's names, for what reason," said Dennis Hagemann, Capital City Gun Club.

Hagemann said only law abiding citizens will qualify for the permits so the records don't need to be made public.

But the Kansas Press Association disagrees.

Director Doug Anstaett said open records would benefit Kansas citizens.

"For instance, if you're wanting to take your child to a baby sitter you may want to know whether that person or a person in that house has a concealed carry permit," Anstaett said.

The Attorney General met last week with members of a task force charged with outlining guidelines for the licenses. A spokesman for the office said they are in no rush.

"We are going to be very cautious and very slow when establishing those guidelines and regulations because we want to get it right the first time," said Whitney Watson of the Attorney General's Office.

Lawmakers could make the decision for them, by amending the Kansas Open Records Act to specifically exempt concealed carry permits.

But they'll have to work quickly. With only two weeks in the veto session, concealed carry is just one more thing on the already full agenda for the state legislature.

At this point every, state except Wisconsin and Illinois has some form of a right-to-carry law.

According to NRA figures, about half of the states with concealed carry keep those records sealed.

Comments

popeyeflats (anonymous) says...

I do not understand why public records on concealed to carry should even been brought up to begin with. what good is the law if crinamals have access to records?

April 14, 2006 at 8:11 a.m. ( | suggest removal )

majstoll (anonymous) says...

Director Doug Anstaett said open records would benefit Kansas citizens because "if you're wanting to take your child to a baby sitter you may want to know whether that person or a person in that house has a concealed carry permit."

It sounds like Anstaett is taking a swipe at permit holders here - strange, as any person in Kansas can own and carry concealed handguns inside their homes without any registration or license. Permit holders will have certified training and backgrounds. Frankly, babysitters with permits ought to garner a compensation premium!

In any event, Kansas faces a choice broader than simply either complete secrecy and complete openness for permit holder records - I recommend that the Attorney General split the baby by declaring that the application paperwork be non-public but that the name and mailing address of every approved permit holder be made public.

This keeps most data, including dates of birth and SSNs confidential, but provides gun rights groups access to a database of likely supporters to help further liberalize Kansas gun laws.

Mike Stollenwerk
OpenCarry.org

April 14, 2006 at 10:17 a.m. ( | suggest removal )