Senate votes against making concealed gun permits public

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- State senators rejected an attempt Tuesday to make public the names of Missourians who receive concealed gun permits, while endorsing a bill that could make it cheaper to obtain other government records.

Missouri's concealed guns law -- just beginning to be implemented by some sheriffs -- keeps secret the names of people approved for permits.

Senators voted 19-13 against an amendment that would have required sheriffs to keep lists of permit holders and release them on request of the public.

After defeating the amendment, senators gave initial approval by voice vote to the legislation seeking to strengthen other portions of Missouri's open records and meetings law.

Among other things, the bill would set a copying charge of 10 cents per page to get documents from any governmental body and impose new restrictions on the search fees governments can charge.

The state's current Sunshine Law allows governmental entities to charge their actual costs of searching and copying, which has led to a wide discrepancy in rates.

The bill, which needs another vote to go to the House, also would increase the potential penalties for Sunshine Law violations to a maximum $5,000 fine, up from the current $500.

Sen. Ken Jacob, a concealed guns opponent, argued that lists of people approved to carry concealed guns should be public, as are lists of people with hunting or fishing licenses.

"Issuing a permit to someone is a governmental act," said Jacob, D-Columbia. "The citizens have a right to know when the government permits another citizen ... to carry a concealed weapon."

But concealed gun supporters said making the permits public records could have fatal results.

Sen. Harold Caskey, a sponsor of the concealed guns law enacted last year when legislators overrode Gov. Bob Holden's veto, said robbers could use the information to target individuals without permits, or to know when to shoot first.

Keeping concealed gun permits secret creates an uncertainty that serves as a deterrent to criminals, said Caskey, D-Butler.

Caskey successfully amended Jacob's proposal to allow permit holders to request their names be kept off the public list. But his change was made moot when senators rejected Jacob's overall amendment.

Among those voting to keep concealed gun permits secret were several senators who generally favor opening government records.

They included Senate President Pro Tem Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, and Sen. Sarah Steelman, R-Rolla, who sponsored the underlying bill.

Kinder said a concealed gun permit "isn't really anyone else's business" and that other states also had laws closing the records. Steelman compared concealed gun records to an individual's medical records, which also are secret.

"That to me is not an issue of the public accountability -- which is what I'm getting at (in the legislation) -- that's personal information," she said.

Steelman had sought to lower the legal standard for proving violations of the Sunshine Law to include a "grossly negligent violation" -- when someone unintentionally violated the law, but should have known better.

But senators amended that to "knowingly violated," which Steelman contended is little different than the current, tough-to-prove standard of "purposely violated."

Other amendments added by senators seek to ensure certain e-mails by government officials are public records and would require members of elected governmental bodies, such as city councils or county commissions, to be physically present in order to vote on issues.

The Chicago-based Better Government Association, a nonpartisan government watchdog group, has ranked Missouri's Freedom of Information law 42nd among states, which some senators cited as reason to strengthen the law.