Our View: Concealed carry permit info should be open to public

Ever noticed the bumper sticker, “Protected by Smith & Wesson”? It’s meant as a warning: The occupants of this truck are armed. We get it.

We think criminals would get it, too. Which is why Assemblyman Adam Gray’s Assembly Bill 1154 is entirely unnecessary. It’s also wrongheaded and would diminish what you’re allowed to know as a citizen.

For now, California is one of the few states with meaningful limits on concealed weapons permits. When it comes to carrying lethal weapons, on the streets and in cars, we think the state should be careful in whom it permits to pack a gun.

But California’s reasonable rules are a target for pro-gun groups and politicians. Last year, at the behest of gun rights advocates, a federal court questioned the constitutionality of the state’s system, which requires gun owners to tell a sheriff or police chief why they need to carry a hidden gun.

With that case on appeal, Gray, D-Merced, wants to chip away at another sensible restriction. AB 1154 would hide from public view much of the information about who gets those permits, making it harder to find out whether officials are appropriately granting permission to carry. AB 1154 comes before the Assembly Judiciary Committee today. Lawmakers should give it a big thumbs down.

Gray argues the current system puts gun owners at risk because names and contact information for most permit holders are subject to disclosure under the state Public Records Act. He wants to remove all addresses and phone numbers from the public record, as is done now for prosecutors, judges and other public officials.

Citing a New York newspaper that, after the Sandy Hook school massacre, published a map of local gun permits, Gray and gun rights advocates claim criminals could find people with guns, break into their homes and steal their firearms.

That brings us back to those bumper stickers. We feel most sensible thieves would shy away from people known to be armed and capable of defending their property. Further, if they’re not home then the concealed gun isn’t there, either.

“My bill is not eliminating disclosure information,” said Gray. “A reporter could cross that (concealed-carry list) with a donor database and get the same information.”

But obscuring the information makes it that much harder for the public.

California gives sheriffs and police broad discretion over who gets permits, and it matters how and to whom permits are issued. In Orange and Los Angeles counties, elected sheriffs have been accused over the years of favoring campaign donors who had no demonstrable need to carry a concealed weapon. Elsewhere, permits have been issued to connected applicants who don’t even live in that jurisdiction.

The public needs to know if those in power abuse their ability to grant permits. It also needs to know where the guns are.

Whether the federal courts will make our state’s restrictions less judicious is an open question. But if the father of your kid’s friend is carrying a gun, or your sheriff has handed out concealed weapons permits like candy, wouldn’t you want to know?

This story was originally published April 21, 2015 at 1:32 PM with the headline "Our View: Concealed carry permit info should be open to public."