Certain information about guns and their owners could not be made public under a bill in the state Senate.
As The Michigan Public Radio Network's Jake Neher reports, it’s a reaction to an article published recently by a New York state newspaper.
The paper gave information about gun owners in the area, including their names and addresses. It sparked outrage, leading New York lawmakers to pass similar legislation.
The bill would exempt some materials from Freedom of Information Act requests. They include pistol license applications and information from a database that tracks pistol histories.
Mike Cavender is with the Radio-Television Digital News Association. He says the measure would be an attack on the First Amendment.
“It’s the beginning of the opportunity for more and more records – of all types – to be closed,” he says.
The bill was one of a handful of gun-related measures introduced in Lansing this week. Another would exempt guns and ammunition made, sold, and kept in Michigan from federal regulations.