SUN CITY CENTER, Fla. (AP) - Florida's agriculture commissioner promises his office will never again fail to do follow-up checks that could disqualify people from gaining a permit to carry a concealed weapon.
Adam Putnam, who is a Republican candidate for governor, held a news conference on Saturday in Sun City Center, Florida to defend himself against critics who say he should resign because of the lapse.
Putnam says "more seamless" communication between his agency and law enforcement, and "extra eyeballs," are in place to make sure the incident never happens again.
He says a department employee failed to make follow-up inquiries into 365 applicants who were flagged for noncriminal reasons during two law-enforcement background checks from February 2016 to March 2017.
The state ultimately revoked 291 permits and fired an employee blamed for the lapse.
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