JEFFERSON CITY—The Missouri Senate today issued a subpoena to Special Agent Keith Schilb of the Office of the Inspector General of the Social Security Administration (SSA) to obtain information regarding the list of all concealed carry permit holders in Missouri that was sent to the federal government as part of a request from the SSA.

As chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, has led the investigation into allegations that the Department of Revenue scanned and collected citizens’ private information as part of a new policy for issuing a driver’s license or CCW permit. The rules for this new policy were never promulgated, a violation of Chapter 536, RSMo., also known as the Administrative Procedure Act.

The Senate began looking into the situation after a resident of Stoddard County filed a lawsuit against the department for scanning and collecting his personal documents.

During the ensuing investigation, Sen. Schaefer discovered a list of more than 160,000 concealed carry permit holders was collated by DOR and sent by the Missouri Highway Patrol to the Social Security Administration and possibly the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, among other revelations.

Both federal departments have been reticent about the issuance of the concealed carry permit list and the purpose behind the request. The subpoena of Agent Schilb is part of the Senate’s ongoing efforts to determine why the Missouri Department of Revenue and other state agencies collaborated in releasing private information on Missouri’s citizens to the federal government. 

“Multiple state departments knowingly circumvented—and in some instances broke—state law. When confronted by elected officials, they deflected and misled. It took a subpoena to get answers, and even then, department heads regularly obscured the facts,” said Sen. Schaefer. “The citizens’ trust in their state government has been betrayed in what was a blatant disregard of the rule of law. The people of Missouri deserve answers, and I will not rest until I have pursued every available option to find the truth. “

The Appropriations Committee is currently holding public meetings throughout the state to allow citizens the opportunity to voice their concerns. The committee will meet Friday, April 26, at the Cape Girardeau Public Library, 711 N. Clark St. in Cape Girardeau, from 1 to 3 p.m., and Saturday, April 27, at the Christian High School Commons Area, 1145 Tom Ginnever Ave. in O’Fallon, from 10 a.m. to noon.

For more information on these meetings, click here or visit www.senate.mo.gov and click on the committee hearings schedule on the right side of the page.