CHP Privacy
We're careening wildly off topic here, but with that in mind... I can tell you a little bit about the CHP privacy issue, primarily because that is the issue that brought be back into the RKBA world after many years of simply not paying attention.
I can tell you for certain that as recently as the summer of 2008, several newspapers around the state, including my local paper, the Free Lance-Star,
routinely published the names and streets of residence of all new CHP grantees. Once a month, the newspaper literally sent a staff member on what I imagine was an all day road trip to the four or five jurisdictions in the local readership area to collect the names. I discussed this with at least two of the Clerks offices, and it became so routine, they would almost have the print-outs ready and waiting for them. (I say "almost", I did not ask if that was literally the case, but month after month the same, you get my drift. "Hey Joe, here's your list. Thanks, see you next month...")
As reported, a few months prior to the development of my interest, the Roanoke Times had indeed sought and received from the Virginia State Police a soft copy of the entire database, which they did put on-line. The reaction was swift and furious, and led to subsequent legislation which closed only one of the two major doors that leaked this information. The legislation was amended and debated over the course of two General Assembly sessions, and it could have easily shut down all public access. I suspect that this put the "Fear of God" into most of the local newspapers, who saw that they were in danger of losing their beloved ability to report on the minuscule number of criminals who had CHPs. I firmly believe this is why nearly all of them voluntarily stopped printing the lists.
Now back to today, in spite of at least two years trying to close the gaping hole left open at the Clerk of the Courts offices through further legislative action (and the failure of that legislation due to the liberal anti-gun Virginia Senate, and their illegal subcommittee),
anybody can go to any local court, and ask for and receive any CHP application, or the whole list. To the best of my knowledge, there are no restrictions on what one may do with this list. Since CHPs are granted through the court system, the information is considered public by default, just as a deed to a house, a marriage license, or a last will and testament are.
One of the more frustrating aspects of this effort was the publication of the
Attorney General's opinion in April 2007 on the matter. AG Bob McDonnell wrote that in his opinion,
current law protected the use of CHP information from all but official use. Sadly, the opinion did nothing to stop the practice, and we all learned one of several hard lessons on just how worthless the opinion of the Attorney General really is.
I am afraid that unless or until some single mom whose hiding place is discovered by her stalker ex-boyfriend/husband through her CHP application and she is hunted down and murdered, this issue will never get resolved. Especially not as long as we continue to allow the Virginia Senate to conduct their sessions in violation of their own rules.
TFred
