Report Questions Bush Handgun Initiative

W A S H I N G T O N, Oct. 3, 2000 -- More than 400 people were issued licenses tocarry concealed guns in Texas despite prior convictions under a lawGov. George W. Bush, the Republican presidential nominee, signed in1995, saying it would make the state “a safer place.”

Those prior convictions include rape, armed robbery andhistories of violence, psychological disorders and drug or alcoholproblems, the Los Angeles Times reported in Tuesday’s editions.

Some 215,000 Texans are licensed to carry concealed weapons. Andmore than 3,000 of them have been arrested for crimes that includedouble murder and drunken driving.

Texas will not release the names of problem licensees or detailsof their crimes. The screening and license enforcement process isclosed to public scrutiny and exempt from open records laws. Thestate Department of Public Safety provides only lists with no namesof those license holders subject to disciplinary action.

But the newspaper traced many of the most serious law violatorsthrough interviews, police reports, court records and otherdocuments, as well as computer-assisted analyses of state andnational databases.

60-Day Window

Texas authorities only have 60 days to conduct background checksand they routinely issue licenses before the process is completed.So far, retroactive revocation actions have been launched againstthe more than 400 people before officials got the out-of-statecrime records, the newspaper reported.

Background checks do not routinely include interviews with theapplicant or family and friends. State law requires only review of“local official records” and criminal history records.

“If there are no clues, no reasons to suspect a problem, thenwe don’t go knocking on doors,” said state police Maj. Lee Smith,whose troopers conduct the local checks.

Troopers do not routinely investigate an applicant’s mental ormedical history beyond a search of local public records unlesssuspicious information is discovered.

David Gavin, DPS’s assistant chief of administration for theconcealed handgun authority, said background checks are not asthorough as for those applicants seeking state trooper jobs. Hesaid such inquiries would be costly and time-consuming.

“We feel we’re effectively using the resources we haveavailable,” Gavin said.

Slow FBI Response Blamed

He blamed some of the early problems on slow FBI response to adeluge of requests for out-of-state crime records in the earlyyears of the program. He said state officials decided to issuelicenses despite incomplete background checks to avoid causingdelay “for the vast majority of good applicants” who were goingto pass anyway. Gavin said his staff acted “in a quick and suremanner” to rescind permits when disqualifying information wasdiscovered.

But the newspaper’s investigation identified dozens of cases ofcriminal histories that should have been available in Texas courtsand in the investigative files of police agencies.

Bush has said he would not seek a nationwide version of theTexas concealed gun law if elected, saying that should be left tostates to decide.

The legislation Bush signed in his first term was touted as thetoughest in the country. Even some gun proponents complained aboutsome restrictions—particularly measures disqualifying applicantsfor such things as overdue taxes and child support.

At the signing ceremony, Bush declared the law a fulfillment ofhis campaign pledge and part of “an anti-crime package.”

The DPS was designated the state’s licensing authority.Officials set aside permit No. 1 for Bush and No. 11 for his wifeLaura. Neither has applied for the license.

Two years later, Bush approved expanding the law to allowconcealed weapons in churches, amusement parks and hospitals.