The names of people licensed to carry concealed handguns in Texas are no longer available to the public.
Republican Gov. Rick Perry announced Thursday that he signed into law a bill that seals state records showing who is allowed to carry a gun in public. Only law enforcement agencies will have access to the information.
The law took effect immediately upon its signing Wednesday.
Rep. Patrick Rose, D-Dripping Springs, and Sen. Bob Deuell, R-Greenville, put forth the legislation. Rose said it was needed because "the steps that law-abiding Texans take to protect themselves and their families should be issues of private concern."
Similar versions of the bill failed in previous sessions.
The newspaper industry had urged Perry to veto the bill, saying it was an open government issue, not a gun issue.
Anyone can check on information about other state-issued license holders, such as doctors, nurses, lawyers, real estate agents and barbers, the Texas Daily Newspaper Association and Texas Press Association said in urging a veto.
"We continue to wonder exactly why a government record has been cut off from view," said Ken Whalen, executive vice president for the TDNA. "There was really no evidence that there was a problem."
The governor's spokeswoman, Krista Moody, said Perry believes the law protects the privacy and safety of concealed handgun license holders.
The Texas Department of Public Safety maintains concealed handgun records. Since the state's concealed gun law was enacted in 1995, the public has been able to find out whether someone has a license to carry a concealed weapon. The requester was required to provide the name of the person in question.
There haven't been many requests, considering the number of Texas concealed gun licenses, according to the newspaper industry. There were 184 requests in 2005 and 132 in 2006, though there were some 258,000 concealed gun licenses.
Sometimes news media organizations request the information.
The Associated Press requested concealed handgun license information in 2005 for all 150 state representatives and 31 senators. DPS records showed that 30 Texas lawmakers had permits to carry concealed guns at that time.
Neither Rose nor Deuell, the sponsors of this year's legislation, had concealed gun licenses at that time.
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The handgun license confidentiality bill is HB 991.