Gibbons says he has permit but doesn’t carry concealed handgun

By Cy Ryan

Tuesday, June 2, 2009 | 2:51 p.m.

CARSON CITY – Gov. Jim Gibbons said today he never carries a concealed gun, even though he has a permit to do so.

And he said he once surrendered his weapons permit but he was never disciplined.

The Nevada Supreme Court has heard arguments on whether the Reno Gazette-Journal was entitled to information that may show the weapons permit of Gibbons was revoked or suspended. A district court has ruled the newspaper is not entitled to that information.

The governor displayed his concealed weapons permit to newspaper reporters Tuesday and on the back it shows he is qualified to carry nine types of weapons.

In January last year, Gibbons delayed getting the required training to qualify for carrying one of the guns. When the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office raised the issue, Gibbons surrendered the license. There was never any disciplinary action taken, he said.

The governor than said he took the additional training and qualified. He suggested he has had more training and gun experience than many of those people who train people on how to use weapons.

A reporter for the Reno Gazette-Journal heard that the concealed weapon permit may have been suspended or revoked. Anjeanette Damon asked the sheriff’s office for the information but it refused to disclose anything.

The newspaper filed suit, appealing the ruling of Washoe County District Judge Janet Berry, who ruled the information was confidential.

At the Supreme Court hearing Tuesday, Scott Glogovac, attorney for the newspaper, said the public has a right to know when disciplinary action is taken against a weapons holder.

During the hearing, the name of Gibbons was not mentioned. But the appeal is being pursued by the newspaper against Washoe County Sheriff Mike Haley, who refused to divulge the information about Gibbons.

Nathan Edwards, a deputy district attorney in Washoe County, said the law makes both the application for the concealed weapons permit and the permit itself confidential.

But Justice Michael Douglas told Edwards the law does not say the permit information is confidential.

The information gathered for the application is confidential but Douglas said the data on the actual permit may be different.

Edwards said the information can be released to other law enforcement agencies but not to the public.

Glogovac said, however, any exemption to public access to this information must be “narrowly construed.” He argued there were substantial reasons for making this data public.

The court took the arguments under submission and will rule later.