Legislator uses public records he tried to seal

But that didn’t stop Rep. Mike Bell, a Riceville Republican, from co-sponsoring another proposal this year to shut down public access to the same records.

Bell’s original proposal would allow people with carry permits to bring their handguns into areas managed by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. Legislative analysts first estimated that the bill would lead the state to lose $50,000 in revenue from the 50 permit holders who pay average fines $1,000 for violations each year, he said.

But by comparing the handgun database with the list of violators on TWRA lands, Bell said he was able to show that only 13 permit holders had been fined a total of $300 over a two-year span.

The negligible loss in state revenues would give the bill a much greater chance of passage.

“I would not have been able to prove that without this (permit) information,” Bell said. “But if I’d had my way, this information would still be private.”

That opinion echoes the stance of state Republican Party spokesman Bill Hobbs, who last week requested a copy of the database from the Safety Department on the same day he issued a press release blasting House Democrats for killing the bill to close the records.

“We would have preferred to be unable to get the records,” Hobbs said.

But unlike Hobbs, Bell said he has no intention of using the information for political campaigning or fundraising.

Hobbs and Bell were among 18 non-media requests for records from the state handgun carry permit database over the last two years, according to the results of an information request by The Associated Press.

About a dozen media organization asked for the information over the same period, said Safety Department spokesman Mike Browning.

The Department of Safety says information like Social Security numbers is redacted from handgun permits before they are released.

Fincher said he’s not disturbed by the efforts among Republicans to obtain the information while it’s still available.

“The hypocrisy is not in them seeking to close the records and requesting them,” he said. “The hypocrisy is the Republican Party trying to raise money over a Democratic bill. That ain’t cool.”

Rep. Eddie Bass, D-Prospect and a former sheriff, is the main House sponsor of the bill that would close the records and make it a crime to publish information from the database. Senate Republican Leader Mark Norris of Collierville introduced the companion bill in the upper chamber.

House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh, D-Covington, on Wednesday exercised his position’s power to help override an earlier subcommittee vote to advance the closed records bill.

Bell’s proposal to allow handguns in TWRA areas has unanimously passed in the Senate, but has stalled in the House.