| Governor Taft Signs HB9 |
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| Written by Jeff Garvas | |
| Friday, 29 December 2006 | |
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On Wednesday Governor Bob Taft signed HB9 into law, which means the changes to the release of concealed carry data was not enough to make him veto the legislation. As we reported earlier this month the Senate removed the opt-out provisions. The Senate version allows journalists access to the names in person at the Sheriff's office, but prohibits them from making copies. This puts the burden on the journalist to write down anything they really want, but doesn't prohibit them from copying or reading off every licensee into a tape recorder. At the very least, it makes the act of copying entire lists all that much harder to accomplish. At the same time, it allows those who want the information for the legitimate purpose of news reporting to actually report if someone accused of a crime had a firearm. Based on news reporting since the law went to effect, and with the newspapers having their own complete lists of likely gun owners, we doubt they'll begin such an informative reporting of those facts any time soon. |