NASHVILLE — The state Republican Party spokesman has filed a request to obtain Tennessee’s entire handgun permit database on the same day his party publicly scolded House Democrats for efforts to keep those records open to the public.

A Safety Department spokesman tells The Associated Press that Republican Party Communications Director Bill Hobbs filed the request for the database on Thursday.

The move came a day after House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh, a Covington Democrat, used his powerful post to kill a bill that would have exempted handgun permits from the open records law and made it a felony to publish information about them.

Hobbs did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

But a GOP news release says House Democrats are assaulting gun owner rights and security by keeping the records open.