State House votes to shield handgun owners' names

[leobold1]

House votes to shield handgun owners' names | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Latest News

:51 PM CDT on Wednesday, April 18, 2007
By KAREN BROOKS / The Dallas Morning News
kmbrooks@dallasnews.com

AUSTIN - The House overwhelmingly endorsed legislation to shield the identities of concealed-carry license owners Wednesday, with supporters saying concealed handgun owners deserve their privacy.

The bill, pushed by the National Rifle Association, was approved on a vote of 135-7 and expected to pass a final procedural vote Thursday and be sent to the Senate.

"These Texans have taken extraordinary steps to protect themselves and their families, and their privacy should be respected,” said Rep. Patrick Rose, D-Dripping Springs, the bill’s sponsor.

Supporters also say that the element of surprise in the “concealed” part of the law is lost if anyone can find out who has a license.

Open-records advocates argue that the concealed-handgun license will become the only license in Texas that is exempt from public information laws.

“Why would we treat this particular license as a particularly protected class?” said Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth.

Currently, the Texas Department of Public Safety will respond to written, name-specific requests for whether an individual is licensed to carry but also gives the licensee the name of the person asking about them. Opponents of the new bill say that offers protection to license holders by giving them a heads-up if the knowledge of their license would be used by a potential attacker.

The legislation is being pushed nationwide by the National Rifle Association, which counts Texas among its friendlier states, and opposed by open-government advocates, such as news organizations.