Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

U.S. Senate backs penalty if gun-owner data released
Portland Press Herald ^ | APRIL 19, 2013 | Kevin Miller

Posted on 04/19/2013 9:35:24 AM PDT by forty_years

WASHINGTON – The Senate endorsed a little-noticed proposal Thursday that would penalize states and communities that release "private information" about gun owners, including the type of data on concealed-handgun permits that's at the center of a debate in the Maine Legislature.

The 67-30 vote approving the plan to protect information about gun owners came a day after the Senate rejected a series of gun control measures sought by the White House and advocates for stronger gun laws in response to December's school shootings in Connecticut.

Maine's Republican Sen. Susan Collins supported the amendment while independent Sen. Angus King opposed it.

The amendment is largely symbolic, as evidenced by the scant attention it got Thursday on Capitol Hill. It is tied to a larger gun bill that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., pulled from the Senate floor Thursday after gun control advocates' stinging defeat.

Reid vowed Thursday to bring back the gun control package, presumably after securing more support for expanded background checks for private gun sales.

But the fact that the gun owners' privacy measure was endorsed with 67 votes -- compared with 54 votes Wednesday in support of expanded background checks -- shows the challenge for gun control advocates as they seek support among lawmakers from rural, pro-gun states.

The privacy proposal, sponsored by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyoming, would withhold 5 percent of funding through the federal Community Operations Policing Services program from states or localities that publicly release data on individuals who own or carry guns.

"When government officials release gun ownership information it puts many lives at risk," Barrasso said, echoing concerns that such information can lead to gun thefts from homes. "This includes the lives of lawful gun owners, the lives of law enforcement and the lives of victims of domestic violence."

The debate over public access to data on gun permit holders exploded earlier this year when a New York newspaper published a list and map of concealed-weapons permit holders. The issue erupted in Maine after the Bangor Daily News requested similar information from across the state, only to withdraw the request amid a firestorm.

From the mid-1990s to 2010, police departments in Maine received more than $54 million from Community Operations Policing Services, much of it paying for additional police officers, school resource officers and new law enforcement technology.

Last year, four law enforcement agencies in Maine -- the Cumberland, Yarmouth and Madison police departments and the York County Sheriff's Office -- received $675,000 through the program to hire additional officers.

While some of Wednesday's gun control proposals were debated for hours in the Senate -- after weeks of public debate -- Barrasso's amendment was given just two minutes of discussion on the Senate floor Thursday.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, noted that the proposal had not even had a congressional hearing. He dismissed it as an example of Washington passing "Big Brother" legislation after two minutes of debate without any information on its potential impact on states.

"It's a feel-good amendment," said Leahy. "It will hurt our states but, most importantly, it will hurt law enforcement."

With its fate tied to the stalled gun control bill, Barrasso's amendment is essentially in limbo until a broader compromise emerges or supporters opt to break it out as a standalone bill. Even if it becomes law, it may be moot in Maine.

State lawmakers are considering legislation to shield information on concealed-handgun permit holders in the state. The bill won a legislative committee's endorsement this month and is awaiting action in the Legislature.

 

Kevin Miller can be contacted at 317-6256 or at:

kmiller@pressherald.com

On Twitter: @KevinMillerDC

 


TOPICS: Breaking News; Constitution/Conservatism; Government; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: banglist; guncontrol; obama; privacy; pushback; secondamendment; senate; shallnotbeinfringed; youwillnotdisarmus
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-23 next last

1 posted on 04/19/2013 9:35:24 AM PDT by forty_years
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: forty_years

Wow, coming out of the ‘rat-dominated Senate, no less. I’m surprised at the strength of the aye votes.


2 posted on 04/19/2013 9:38:03 AM PDT by LibWhacker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: forty_years

Yup, believable. That’s right after the “Don’t worry honey, I’m sterile” promise.


3 posted on 04/19/2013 9:38:21 AM PDT by llevrok (2013: The USA is in a Cold Civil War.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: forty_years

Amen! Perhaps all the phone calls and Emails got through to them.. I’m thinkin’ there’s a mentality of “we’re not making that stupid 0bamacare mistake AGAIN” going on.. Good.


4 posted on 04/19/2013 9:44:39 AM PDT by Obama_Is_Sabotaging_America (PRISON AT BENGHAZI?????)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: LibWhacker

Oh, what a bad week it has been for Obamastan.


5 posted on 04/19/2013 9:46:19 AM PDT by Mouton (108th MI Group.....68-71)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: LibWhacker

Lot of Rat congresscritters are worried about their voters who have guns. Lots of gun owners live in commie states and these senate and house worry about job security if they do this. Commie states that totally control everything will not worry about it, but in other states that are close to 50-50 in voting will cause Rats to vote with job security in mind.


6 posted on 04/19/2013 9:56:38 AM PDT by RetiredArmy (1 Cor 15: 50-54 & 1 Thess 4: 13-17. That about covers it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: llevrok
The fact is that senators considering the background check legislation and other gun control measures got bombarded with calls, faxes, emails, and letters from good, law-abiding citizens worried about the Constitution being shredded. These senators are scared.

I know because of bunch of us little, ol' plebeians organized grassroots, spend money out of our own pockets, and got hundreds of people active. We didn't get a dime from any pro-gun groups, though they helped by providing timely legislative info.

7 posted on 04/19/2013 9:57:30 AM PDT by forty_years
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: forty_years

Wow. Shocked. And happy.

Hasn’t been Zero’s week. Poor wittle fella.


8 posted on 04/19/2013 9:58:15 AM PDT by JenB987 (I'm still an American and 'til they take that away from me there's no day ruined. - El Rushbo)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: JenB987

Poor Obama having another tantrum. How will he spin 1 million Bostonians living under lockdown as paramilitary forces hunt down terrorists from Dagestan?


9 posted on 04/19/2013 9:59:51 AM PDT by forty_years
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: LibWhacker

They must have figured out that the information released could reveal not just the status of lowly taxpayer scum like us, but that the aforementioned scum could find out which of the “elite” are gun owners.


10 posted on 04/19/2013 10:02:46 AM PDT by Califreak (11/6/12 The Day America Divided By Zero)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: forty_years

Who will enforce it, Eric Holder?


11 posted on 04/19/2013 10:04:11 AM PDT by SWAMPSNIPER (The Second Amendment, a Matter of Fact, Not a Matater of Opinion)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: forty_years

Let’s get realistic. What are “they” gonna do to a state or community? Stop Federal handouts? All that does is penalize the folks living there.

IMHO, the person who released the info should be tracked down. A mandatory $100,000 fine and a mandatory 10 years in solitary confiment in a Supermax prison. Maybe that would be sufficient motivation to not do it.


12 posted on 04/19/2013 10:04:18 AM PDT by upchuck (To the faceless, jack-booted government bureaucrat who just scanned this post: SCREW YOU!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: forty_years

Well that’s easy. Obama just won’t. He won’t invade any countries financing or harboring terrorists because this is clearly an isolated incident and of no relation to Islam. We shouldn’t jump to conclusions.


13 posted on 04/19/2013 10:06:22 AM PDT by JenB987 (I'm still an American and 'til they take that away from me there's no day ruined. - El Rushbo)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: RetiredArmy

I think that’s a spot on analysis, thanks. I love it! Because, although they like to portray themselves as fully committed to the cause, unafraid of the consequences, willing to go down with the ship, etc., this proves them, once again, to be liars. Really cheers me up, because these last four years have been damned discouraging!


14 posted on 04/19/2013 10:07:44 AM PDT by LibWhacker
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: forty_years
The amendment is largely symbolic, as evidenced by the scant attention it got Thursday on Capitol Hill.

So if the press is not in full cheerleader mode for it like they were for the main gun control bill the vote is merely symbolic.

15 posted on 04/19/2013 10:07:57 AM PDT by KarlInOhio (Choose one: the yellow and black flag of the Tea Party or the white flag of the Republican Party.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: forty_years

Looks like a message received is a lesson learned.


16 posted on 04/19/2013 11:08:19 AM PDT by ScottinVA (Gun control: Steady firm grip, target within sights, squeeze the trigger slowly...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: forty_years
independent Sen. Angus King

"Independent," my arse.

17 posted on 04/19/2013 11:09:29 AM PDT by ScottinVA (Gun control: Steady firm grip, target within sights, squeeze the trigger slowly...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: RetiredArmy
Lot of Rat congresscritters are worried about their voters who have guns.

Heh heh... nice dual meaning there....

18 posted on 04/19/2013 11:11:01 AM PDT by ScottinVA (Gun control: Steady firm grip, target within sights, squeeze the trigger slowly...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: LibWhacker

This is only an amendment to a bill that was killed.

What we need to see now is a “gang of 6x” or some such to propose a stand-alone bill which has this effect.

Until a stand-alone bill is voted on, these votes are meaningless.


19 posted on 04/19/2013 12:38:48 PM PDT by AFPhys ((Praying for our troops, our citizens, that the Bible and Freedom become basis of the US law again))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: forty_years

good. the house better concur. hear that boehner.


20 posted on 04/19/2013 1:05:10 PM PDT by dadfly
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-23 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson