Last fall, after a deranged employee killed six people at Accent Signage in Minneapolis, the police said they were prohibited from saying if the now-dead gunman had a permit to carry a firearm in public.
Under state law, "all data pertaining to the purchase or transfer of firearms and applications for permits to carry firearms ... are private."
"That's very comprehensive and cold in terms of public access to data," said Mark Anfinson, an attorney for the Minnesota Newspaper Association who specializes in public record laws.
Anfinson said the law was likely meant to discourage theft by shielding addresses of gun owners. But the wording is so broad that it applies even to criminals whose permits have been revoked and to dead people.
BRANDON STAHL
