The failure
Public-records exemption hides IDs of hundreds who were recipients
of Adam Putnam’s office to review background checks for concealed weapons permits was one thing. But a public records exemption for applications means it may be impossible to ID the recipients of the faulty permits.
TALLAHASSEE — The failure of Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam’s office to review background checks for concealed weapons permits means that 291 people with possible histories of drug abuse, mental illness or domestic violence could have been able to legally carry a concealed gun for more than a year.
Those permits have since been revoked, but a public records exemption for permit applications means it may be impossible for the public to know who was able to legally carry a gun in public without proper authorization.
On Monday, Sen. Linda Stewart, D-Orlando, called for a Senate investigation.
The situation “has deeply shaken our trust in the agency’s ability to safeguard the people of Florida,” Stewart wrote Monday in a letter to Senate President Joe Negron requesting the probe. “As more details have emerged since news broke of the scandal late Friday, questions have mounted as to the degree of knowledge within the agency, namely who knew what, and when?”
Putnam, a Republican candidate for governor, blasted the initial report from the Tampa Bay Times at a campaign rally over the weekend, stressing that checks through the National Instant Crime Background Check System were conducted. But he acknowledged that an employee failed to review 365 concealed carry permit applications flagged by the system for more than a year.
“The news reporting on the incident relating to the gun background checks has been flat wrong and misleading,” Putnam said. “A criminal background investigation was completed on every single one of the 349,923 concealed weapon license applications that were submitted between February 2016 and March of 2017.”
The Times clarified its story to note that the background checks were completed, but the ones that raised flags were not reviewed. The inspector general report details the negligence by one employee, Lisa Wilde; in charge of reviewing the background checks that went unnoticed for more than a year.
Putnam defended his response to the situation, emphasizing that he “took immediate action” when the lapse was dis-
covered by calling for the inspector general report and “didn’t wait on a news story to take action.” Putnam didn’t tell the public or Scott about the inspector general report, which was published June 5, 2017, until the Times requested it and reported on it Friday.
Gov. Rick Scott told the Times on Monday that the situation was “disturbing” and “concerning.”
“People need to do their job. It’s as simple as that,” Scott said. “This is public safety.”
During the time of the lapse, there were 365 applications flagged as ineligible yet approved, according to Putnam’s office. Of those, 291 were retroactively revoked.
The National Rifle Association also leapt to Putnam’s defense.
“The media isn’t getting it right and anti-gun Democrats don’t want to get it right — for some, it’s all about attacking a candidate for political reasons,” NRA lobbyist Marion Hammer wrote in a memo to members Saturday.
A concealed weapons license is not a requirement of buying a firearm, but a background check is conducted by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement on anyone buying a gun at the point of sale.
Putnam has argued that “no one’s safety was put at risk by the inadvertent purchase of a firearm,” and that “none of the 365 could have purchased a firearm.”
But as reported by Politico last month, mental health records are often entered into a state database late, which runs the risk that “an individual who is prohibited from purchasing or possessing a firearm may be approved at the time of the background check if the disqualifying mental health record is not available,” according to an FDLE federal grant application.
State law exempts “personal identifying information” of concealed weapons license applicants and holders from being made public. The lapse was discovered in late March 2017, when a supervisor noticed the office hadn’t received any recent correspondence from applicants who had been denied a permit. That prompted the department to ask the inspector general to investigate. The IG report revealed the last time an NICS report had been saved was February 26, 2016.
Wilde, a 15-year employee of the department making $48,753 a year, had been reviewing the NICS background checks since 2013. But she told inspector general investigators she was unable to log in to the system and failed to follow up with superiors or correct the problem.
According to the inspector general report, Wilde acknowledged her actions were “negligent, and agreed it could cause an embarrassment to the agency.” She was fired on April 20, 2017.
Numerous Democrats have called for Putnam to resign and end his gubernatorial campaign. At the campaign rally, Putnam made clear he wouldn’t do either.