CHL information is currently part of the public record, but Thatcher said she thinks it should have been exempted from the beginning. “Recently, it’s been more of a target for public records requests,” she said. “People misguidedly think that if they know who has a concealed handgun license, they’ll know who’s carrying a gun, and that’s just not the case.
A frequent champion of expanded transparency in the state — she was behind creation of the state transparency website and has championed improved public records laws — Thatcher said removing CHLs from the public record does not go against that mindset.
“Public records laws, ‘Sunshine’ laws, they came about around the Watergate era to shine some light on government actions,” she said. “These licenses have to do with private individuals.”
She said the bill, submitted at the request of the Oregon State Sheriffs’ Association, has generated a lot of interest from the public, and those who have contacted her are “overwhelming for it.”
Source: Newberg Graphic
