Oregon may be forced to release info about permit holders

KATU in HILLSBORO, Ore. discusses a recent court case here:

HILLSBORO, Ore. - Washington County Sheriff Rob Gordon is warning holders of concealed gun permits that he may be forced to release their personal information to the public based on a recent court order.

The order stems from a case out of Medford where teacher Shirley Katz wanted to bring a gun to school. She argued she needed a gun to protect herself from her ex-husband.

Last year a judge ruled against her - saying the school district has the right to forbid employees from having guns on school property.

In April, the Jackson County sheriff was ordered to release a list of all the concealed handgun license holders to a Medford newspaper. The case is now before the Oregon Court of Appeals.

In the meantime, Gordon plans to send letters Friday to about 10,000 concealed handgun license holders in his county. He wants them to respond whether they want their personal information kept confidential and whether they applied for the license to protect their personal safety. . . .

It is interesting that there are 10,000 permit holders in just this one county. Washington County has 380,560 adults (or 13.3 percent) out of 2.85 million adults in the state.