Mo. Senate Members Grill Public Safety Officials Over Release Of Citizen Conceal-Carry List

From:  NPR News for St. Louis

By Marshall Griffin

 

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Credit (Marshall Griffin/St. Louis Public Radio)

(l-r) Mo. Dept. of Public Safety Deputy Dir. Andrea Spillars and Mo. State Hwy. Patrol Col. Ron Replogle answers questions from Mo. Senate budget writers.

Budget writers in the Missouri Senate turned their attention today Thursday to the Highway Patrol and the Department of Public Safety as they continue to question why the state’s list of conceal-carry weapons holders was given to the federal government.

Colonel Ron Replogle testified that the Patrol received a request for the list in November of 2011 from the Social Security Administration, which was conducting a fraud investigation.

“And our employees felt this was a legitimate criminal investigation, so therefore they released the information," Replogle said.

Public Safety Deputy Director Andrea Spillars also told the committee that the release of the CCW list was legal.  Committee chairman Kurt Schaefer disagreed.

“Asking for that data in batch form so that it can be profiled for other reasons, that is intelligence gathering, in my opinion,” Schaefer said.

When asked later by reporters if anyone should lose their jobs over what happened, Schaefer said “that’s something also that we’re looking at.”

Follow Marshall Griffin on Twitter: @MarshallGReport