Posted by Eugene Volokh:
Limits on Publication of Gun Carry License Records:
http://volokh.com/archives/archive_2009_02_22-2009_02_28.shtml#1235576251
A Tennessee legislator has proposed a statute that would [1]outlaw the
publication of gun carry permit records:
(x) Any information or other records regarding an applicant or
permit holder may be released to a law enforcement agency for the
purpose of conducting an investigation or prosecution, or for
determining the validity of a permit, but shall not be publicly
disclosed except as evidence in a criminal proceeding.
(y)(1) Except as provided for in subsection (x), it is an offense
for a person, other than the applicant or permit holder, to
knowingly publish in any form any information or records described
in subsection (w) or information concerning the validity of any
permit.
(2) A violation of this subsection (y) is a Class A misdemeanor
punishable by fine only.
Nothing in the First Amendment stops states from keeping these sorts
of records private. That, for instance, is the norm with regard to
income tax records, to psychiatric and medical records kept by
government-run hospitals, and a good deal of other data. And the
government may criminalize government officials' leaking of the
records, as the federal government has done for income tax records.
But once the data is placed in the public record and then copied by
private parties -- which is what happened in Tennessee, prompting this
proposal -- the First Amendment protects people's right to
redistribute it. [2]Florida Star v. B.J.F., a case involving the
inadvertent release of a rape victim's name, so holds; and if this is
so as to data that was inadvertently released by the government, it
would surely apply to data that was deliberately released, even
pursuant to a policy that was later changed. So the law could bar the
release of new license records, but it can't bar the continuing
distribution of old license records by those who have already copied
them.
Thanks to [3]and [4]Michael Silence for the pointer.
References
1. http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/106/Bill/HB0959.pdf
2.
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=491&invol=524
3. http://instapundit.com/
4.
http://blogs.knoxnews.com/knx/silence/archives/2009/02/lawmakers_looki.shtml
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