County : CBS Gun-Permit Suit Against Gates Continues

Four years after the CBS television network first challenged Sheriff Brad Gates’ refusal to disclose data on concealed weapons permits, lawyers for both sides were still arguing the issue Wednesday.

Lawyers for the network, armed with an appellate decision holding the permits must be made public, urged the release of all 402 permits issued in 1983, minus information that might pose a threat to licensees.

Gates’ lawyer presented a long list of information he wants deleted from the gun permits before they are released to CBS, ranging from citizenship data to the age and weight of applicants.

CBS lawyer Herbert M. Schoenberg said that was an attempt to protect the “vanity” of permit holders. “I don’t think that’s a good enough reason to delete the information,” he said.

Gates’ lawyer, Assistant County Counsel Arthur C. Wahlstedt Jr., suggested that information on permit applications about military service, such as discharge status, and information about a permit holder’s criminal history also should be deleted.

Schoenberg objected. “The heart of the matter is whether the sheriff is properly exercising his discretion” in issuing permits, Schoenberg said.

About 80 of the gun permits in question are held by members of the California Reserve Peace Officers Assn. Lawyer Glenn Stern, representing the association, urged the judge to keep all of their names secret, arguing that disclosure might threaten the safety of the officers, who often are involved in undercover operations.

Superior Court Judge Robert J. Polis scheduled further arguments in the case. Polis must review all 402 permits in private and delete information that could pose a threat to licensees before release of the records.