Bill would seal handgun permit records from public

NASHVILLE — A proposal to seal Tennessee’s handgun carry permit records from public scrutiny is advancing in the legislature.

The measure sponsored by Republican Sen. Ferrell Haile of Gallatin unanimously passed the Senate Judiciary Committee 8- 0 on Tuesday and is headed for a vote by the full Senate. The companion bill was approved 84-10 in the House last month.

Both versions of the bill would allow for the media and Safety Department to confirm whether someone who had run afoul of the law was a permit holder, but only by providing a legal document or other record “that indicates the named person is not eligible to possess a handgun carry permit.”

The legislation doesn’t create an exception for political operatives and lobbying groups to obtain the entire set of names and addresses. who is sponsoring the bill for the Haslam administration, told reporters that he does not see much room for negotiation over the measure seeking to supply a limited number of parents of children in the state’s worst-performing schools with public money to pay for a private education.

“I think there’s an increasing level of comfort with the measured approach preferred by the governor,” Norris said. “It’s pretty much all or nothing.”

Haslam’s bill is sched- uled for Wednesday votes in the House Finance Committee and in the Senate Education Committee. The measure would limit the program to 5,000 students in failing schools in the academic year that begins in August and grow to 20,000 by 2016.