Va. committee kills concealed-weapon permit access bill

A bill seeking to limit public access to a database of citizens with concealed weapons permits died in a Senate committee on Monday.

The issue arose after The Roanoke Times published a state police database listing the names of concealed weapons permit holders on its Web site. House Bill 982, which passed the House of Delegates earlier this month, initially would have allowed access to the records through the courts, but the amended bill sought to limit release to only the names of the permit holders with no other personal information available. Democrats disagreed with this provision because it would have allowed for portions of the records to be kept secret.