May 25, 2013
GASTONIA, N.C. (AP) -- Gaston County commissioners have unanimously voted to ask North Carolina lawmakers to pass a bill that would keep the names of people who own gun permits from the public.
Commissioner Tracy Philbeck told the Gaston Gazette that he doesn't want media outlets to request the list and publish it like a newspaper in New York did.
Currently, the name, age and home address of anyone who gets a gun permit in North Carolina is public information. Philbeck says 41 states already keep that information private.
Gaston County Sheriff Alan Cloninger says if he was asked for a list of gun permit owners in Gaston County, he would defy North Carolina's Freedom of Information Act and not release the list.
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