Posted on 02/15/2013 7:03:31 AM PST by EXCH54FE
The state Senate voted 32-8 Thursday to bar circuit court clerks from disclosing to the public the names of people who have concealed handgun permits.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Mark D. Obenshain, R-Harrisonburg, now goes to Gov. Bob McDonnell.
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The governor will review the legislation when he receives it, said J. Tucker Martin, a spokesman for McDonnell.
In its form that initially passed the Senate, the bill would have barred disclosure only in the case of a person who is protected by a protective order. A House subcommittee amended the bill to bar disclosure for anyone who has a concealed handgun permit.
Gun-rights advocates say the bill protects the safety of people who have concealed handgun permits. Open-government advocates say the issuance of such permits is a government function that should be open to scrutiny.
The Senate vote came without debate or a comment of dissent in the evenly divided chamber, which traditionally has hosted spirited debates on gun rights and government transparency.
In an interview, Obenshain said the House amendment that extended the protection of permit information to all permit holders made sense and was timely given recent stories of newspapers publishing gun-permit records.
Obenshain called the issue of concealing the names of concealed handgun permit holders “a personal privacy issue, not a government transparency issue.”
(Excerpt) Read more at timesdispatch.com ...
Virginia, my home state, is very good on gun rights.
All in all, a great place to live.
If only we could slice off Northern Virginia, which is infested with liberal Yankees.
Yet the media won’t publish full and relevant information in the description of criminal “teens”.
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