Did Orange County Sheriff's Office illegally identify concealed weapon permit holders?
FloridaCarry.Org gun advocates say Demings' staff gave legislators restricted photos
April 15, 2011|By Henry Pierson Curtis, Orlando Sentinel
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ORLANDO SENTINEL FILE
A member of Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings' political lobbying team has been accused of handing out mug shots of gun owners this week in Tallahassee to oppose a Senate bill permitting the open carrying of firearms.
Sheriff's Capt. Mike Fewless gave legislators seven photographs he said were outlaw motorcycle-gang members with state permits to carry concealed weapons, according to FloridaCarry.Org, a group of 6,000 Florida gun owners.
Let me get this straight! These people were approved by the state of Fla. to carry concealed, but the sheriffs dept. calls them motorcycle gang outlaws. 
State law prohibits the release of information disclosing the identities of concealed-weapon permit holders.
"This is using classified data for political purposes," said Sean Caranna, executive director of the group founded in July. "That's strictly prohibited."
On Friday afternoon, sheriff's spokesman Capt. Angelo Nieves said the photographs given to members of the state Senate Judiciary Committee did not come from the restricted state database containing more than 900,000 photographs of concealed-weapon permit holders.
"What will be under review in the coming days is the status of the photos to determine if their distribution was proper or improper," said Nieves, who declined to release copies of the photographs as public records until a decision is made. Demings' legal staff is conducting the review and will decide whether Fewless should face an administrative investigation and possible discipline.
Fewless turned over copies of the photographs after returning to Orlando on Friday from lobbying legislators to support bills favored by Demings. He is one of two sheriff's captains assigned to lobbying duties during the 60-day session.
In widely distributed comments from Fewless' appearance before the Judiciary Committee, he was quoted saying, "I actually stopped by everyone of you guys' offices this morning [and] dropped off seven photographs of some biker outlaw guys that have carrying-concealed-firearm permits. Those are the ones we're worried about carrying."
The identities of Florida concealed-weapon permit holders were a matter of public record until 2006, when the state Legislature outlawed disclosure after Orlando's WFTV-Channel 9 posted the records of every state permit holder on its website. Gun owners feared that release created a shopping list for criminals.
Caranna said he has asked the Orange-Osceola State Attorney's Office to investigate whether Fewless' actions warrant prosecution. The State Attorney's Office does not comment on whether it has opened investigations.
Makes one wonder.........What group will they target next?
