Virginia Concealed Handgun Permits
| Submitted | Feb. 21, 2013 |
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Communications
From: Mara Berg
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to Virginia Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
Listings of those persons who are issued a concealed handgun permit for the past five years. If possible, please send listings segregated by year of permit application/issuance.
I also request that, if appropriate, fees be waived as I believe this request is in the public interest. The requested documents will be made available to the general public free of charge as part of the public information service at MuckRock.com, processed by a representative of the news media/press and is made in the process of news gathering and not for commercial usage.
In the event that fees cannot be waived, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Tom Nash
From: Poole, Sara N.
Dear Mr. Nash,
Thank you for your email inquiry below. The documents regarding persons, who are issued concealed weapon permits, are exempt from release pursuant to Virginia Code Section 18.2-308 (K) (concealed weapon statute). The Virginia Freedom of Information Act (the Act) only applies if not otherwise specified by law and certain personal identifying information is further exempt under the Act per Virginia Code Section 2.2-3705.1(10).
Lastly, the Virginia Attorney General issued an official Opinion cited in Va. AG 3, 3, 07-027, ___ (2007) stating that "since such list of permittees will include names and other personal information of crime victims and witnesses, it is my opinion that the identities and locations of these persons should be protected in the interest of public safety. The Department [of State Police] has the responsibility to refrain from releasing sensitive personal information when the interests of public safety demand discretion. Further, it is my opinion that the express language of ยง 18.2-308(K) limits the use of concealed carry permit information to law-enforcement personnel for investigative purposes."
I regret that the Department cannot be of further assistance to you.
From: MuckRock.com
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Freedom of Information request, copied below, and originally submitted on Feb. 21, 2013. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response, or if further clarification is needed.
Thank you for your help.
From: Poole, Sara N.
From: Poole, Sara N.
Dear Mr. Nash,
This response was sent out on the same date your request was received as evidenced below, except you did not copy who it was from. I will resend it again in an independent email and you can see it was sent out on February 21st answering your request.
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