Hundreds gather for gun rally at the Capitol

Hundreds attended the gun rally at the Capitol on Thursday. The message sent throughout the building was anger towards Governor Jay Nixon and the Department of Revenue. They’re angry because their conceal carry information was sent to the federal government twice. Many tell ABC 17 News being a conceal carry holder for several years, this was an invasion of their privacy.

Lawmakers played to the fired up crowd saying it was wrong for the Department of Revenue to willingly hand over their information. But some are still upset.

“I thought, how can my state government sell me out like that,” angry rally attendee Steve McCann says.

Lawmakers say the governor is finally taking notice of the concerns of Missourians. Telling Revenue to stop scanning those documents is a good start. But it needs to stop scanning everything altogether. Many that attended the rally tell us they’re worried with what the government may do with the information. Even though officials claim the information was destroyed, some say they don’t believe that.

“That’s the name and addresses, full information about gun owners, its backdoor registration is the first step to collection or confiscation,” attendee Carl Smart says.

Some lawmakers tell us they’ve been trying to protect gun rights for all Missourians for years. Having personal information being sent off has them upset.

“I’m really ticked and a lot of the other legislators are too, as well as my constituents, that we were violated for our bureaucrats to do this to us, “Senator Brian Munzlinger (R)-Williamstown says.

Lawmakers say they’re determined to get to the bottom of the problem and find the ones responsible. Some at the rally say they resent the fact their information was sent so easily. Many had the same mindset, the federal government doesn’t need to know what they have and don’t have.