By Rob Moritz
Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — Gov. Mike Beebe said Thursday that he would prefer the list of Arkansans with concealed weapon permits remain public but has not decided whether he would veto legislation to make the list secret if it makes it to his desk.
“You’re balancing people’s right to privacy against the public’s right to know,” Beebe told reporters. “Usually, there’s always exceptions … but generally speaking, you’re better off with the open part of it.”
Beebe made his comments after a Senate panel suspended debate on House Bill 1623 by Rep. Randy Stewart, D-Kirby, which would prohibit release of the names and other information of Arkansans who hold permits to carry concealed handguns.
The measure has been approved by the House and was debated for about 30 minutes Thursday by Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs and State Agencies. The panel took testimony and agreed to take the bill back up at its next meeting on Tuesday.
Stewart, a former Olympic shooter and a concealed-carry course instructor, has said he proposed the bill after Arkansas Times weekly newspaper in Little Rock made a list of names and addresses of permit holders in the state available on its Web site last month.
Stewart said 25 states have passed laws prohibiting the release of the information.
Speaking against the proposal was David Bailey, managing editor of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He described the bill as “very dangerous” because without public oversight, any mistakes or problems, such as awarding the permits to felons, would not be discovered.
He said the bill also prohibits the information from being released during the discovery segment of civil trials.
Beebe spokesman Matt DeCample said the governor would support releasing the names of the permits holders, but not any of their personal information, including their address.
Bailey said he was willing to develop a compromise to the bill, which as written would exempt the information from the state Freedom of Information Act, but Stewart declined.
