Highway patrol gave feds Missouri weapon permits data

JEFFERSON CITY — Missouri’s database of concealed weapon permits was twice given to federal authorities investigating Social Security disability fraud in a move that has enraged lawmakers already angry over potential abuses in a new driver’s licensing system.

Missouri State Highway Patrol Col. Ron Replogle was questioned for nearly an hour this morning by the Senate Appropriations Committee after he revealed to Chairman Kurt Schaefer yesterday that his agency had turned over the data.

The delivery of the information to federal authorities has become a huge issue for lawmakers since they began raising questions about new driver’s licensing procedures. A lawsuit from Stoddard County challenged the procedures that require all supporting documents — including certificates granting concealed weapon privileges — to be scanned and retained.

In November 2011 and again in January, Replogle said, an agent of the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General received discs with the data. Each time, the agent was unable to read the encryption format and destroyed the discs, Replogle said.

“They said no names were retrieved,” Replogle told the committee this morning. “They do not have those names. They did not disseminate that information, and all that information has been destroyed. We have asked for that documentation of what has happened.”

The data was turned over because the Office of Inspector General is a law enforcement agency, Replogle said. It was done by a mid-level supervisor at the patrol. Replogle said he was not informed of the transfer until four weeks ago.

The intention was to cross-check the names on the concealed carry list with the agency’s list of those with disabilities attributed to mental illness to find possible evidence of fraud in the system.





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