Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam is trying to defuse the controversy over concealed weapons permits his office issued by mistake.
The agency failed to do proper background checks on thousands of applicants, for almost a year, after an employee lost the password to the FBI database that is used for those checks.
Adam Putnam admits his office screwed up, but the Agriculture Commissioner ... and Republican candidate for governor ... says none of the people who got a Florida concealed weapons license by mistake committed any crimes before those permits were revoked.
"Any time that anyone who has a concealed weapons license is arrested, we are made aware of that," he said. "If any of the 291 had committed a crime while in possession of the CWL, we would have been made aware of that."
Putnam claims the problem has now been fixed and that the only people who have concealed weapons permits are those who are legally allowed to have them.
But you'll have to take Putnam's word for it, because there's no way for the public to check.
Concealed carry files were exempted from the Florida's public records law after the NRA complained that it could lead to harassment of permit holders.