LITTLE ROCK (AP) - Arkansas senators have
approved legislation that would make secret the names of about 130,000
people in the state who are permitted to carry concealed handguns.
The Senate voted 24-9 Wednesday on a bill that
would make the list of concealed carry permit holders exempt from
Arkansas' Freedom of Information Act. State law currently allows the
state to release the names and ZIP codes of permit holders.
The bill now heads to the House.
Republican Sen. Bruce Holland of Greenwood says he
proposed the change after a New York newspaper published the list of
concealed carry permit holders following last year's school shooting in
Connecticut. Gov. Mike Beebe and several media organizations are opposed
to the bill.
The current law was the result of a 2009 compromise struck in the Legislature.
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