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HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania appeals court Friday gave new life to a lawsuit by four people with permits to carry concealed weapons who argue the sheriff shouldn't be sending notices about their permits by postcards without envelopes. 
 A three-judge Commonwealth Court panel said a county judge in Chambersburg should not have thrown out the complaint by three men and a woman over the use of postcards to inform people about approvals, denials, revocations and renewals. The decision said the confidentiality provisions in the Uniform Firearms Act allow disclosure of concealed carry license applicants' information only to courts or criminal justice agencies. The law directs that all information provided by license applicants "shall be confidential and not subject to public disclosure." "It is not clear at this stage of the proceedings that sending the postcard does not breach the confidentiality the General Assembly deliberately and extensively crafted into the (act)," wrote Judge Renee Cohn Jubelirer. Joshua Prince, attorney for the four, said he was hopeful of a settlement, although the amount of money could be considerable. Lawyers for Franklin County and Sheriff Dane Anthony did not return messages seeking comment. The plaintiffs are pursuing class-action status and believe that well over 10,000 licenses were issued in the county that fall within the statute of limitations. Violations carry civil damages of $1,000 per occurrence as well as legal fees, and triple damages for those who can show how the policy actually harmed them. "A lot of individuals who carry are individuals such as protection-from-abuse victims, police, law enforcement more generally, probation and parole officers, judges, doctors, lawyers," Prince said. "To allow for the disclosure of that information places those individuals in danger, and that's why we believe it's so important to make sure this information is protected." The court opinion noted that the defendants say they have evidence that envelopes are used for denial notices.

Court hands gun permit holders win in privacy violation suit