Gun group considers suing Philadelphia over releasing names of ‘conceal carry’ applicants

The city of Philadelphia could be sued for publishing online the names of people who appealed when they were denied a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

The names of dozens of people who were denied “concealed carry” permits and appealed were published on the web, including an interactive map with their home addresses. Philadelphia Police requested the Department of Licenses and Inspections remove the information, but that’s not enough for a group such as Firearms Owners Against Crime. Kim Stolfer who heads of the group says it is considering going to court against the city.

“It is nothing more than another way Philadelphia is trying to attack gun owners and it will raise crime because the sheer essence of a firearm being possessed by a citizen is that the fact that criminal doesn’t know who’s armed,” said Stolfer.

Mayor Michael Nutter’s spokesman, Mark McDonald, says the city had the right to make the information public, which was posted along with other information considered “open records.”

“The police department decided and with the support of [Department of] Law and L & I that it would be best to err on the side of keeping that data off the Internet in the spirit of the original application process where it’s not a public matter,” said McDonald.

Stolfer says he hopes everyone’s whose name was published will sue the city.