Report stirs Texas concealed handgun debate

AUSTIN, Texas - Background checks for Texans applying for concealed handgun licenses have been greatly improved since hundreds of people with criminal convictions gained permits under a law signed by Gov. George W. Bush, aides said Tuesday.

The state failed to perform full background checks on 407 people who had convictions but were granted licenses. And 71 of those had convictions that should have excluded them from permits, the Texas Department of Public Safety acknowledged Tuesday.

But the federal government was a big part of the problem, said Karen Hughes, spokeswoman for Bush's presidential campaign.

''The federal law enforcement authorities, which are of course under the jurisdiction of Vice President Gore's administration, were delayed and slow in responding to Texas officials' request for a background check,'' she said.

Texas officials ''felt they were required by law to go ahead and issue the permits,'' she said in Boston where Bush was debating Al Gore. And the process for examining an applicant's background has been improved since the law went into effect in 1996, when most of the convicted applicants were approved, officials said.

All of the 71 concealed gun licenses in question have been revoked, and none of the recipients committed a violent crime while possessing them, Hughes said.

The campaign's defense of the Texas law came after a Los Angeles Times report Tuesday that more than 400 people convicted of crimes, including rape and armed robbery, were issued concealed gun permits in Texas.

Of the approximately 215,000 Texans licensed to carry concealed weapons, more than 3,000 have been arrested for crimes that include double murder and drunken driving, the newspaper also reported.

Bush signed the concealed gun law in 1995, his first year in office, saying it would make the state safer. Supporters point to a state study that said licensed concealed handgun holders in Texas in 1997 and 1998 were six times less likely to be arrested than the general population over age 21.

Tom Vinger, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety, said that when the program started it took longer to check criminal backgrounds with the FBI. He said state officials decided to issue licenses after checking names with the FBI, but without waiting for fingerprint checks to be completed.

People who have ever been convicted of felonies or domestic violence, and, within the past five years, of certain misdemeanors, are not eligible for concealed gun permits. Other disqualifiers are failure to pay taxes or child support, and a history of mental problems.

Bush has said decisions about whether to allow concealed guns should be left to individual states. Gore opposes allowing the carrying of concealed weapons.