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Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2005

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AUSTIN, Texas -- Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers, who once owned a .45-caliber revolver, is not licensed to carry a concealed handgun in Texas. State officials refused Monday to reveal whether she has ever been licensed.

Miers' brother gave her the Smith & Wesson handgun when he was worried about her living alone in Dallas. Judge Nathan Hecht of the Texas Supreme Court, a longtime friend of Miers', has said she kept the gun for a long time.

State law requires the release of information about license holders but not former license holders, said Pamela Smith, assistant general counsel for the agency.

A person in Texas can own a gun without a concealed handgun license. Texas is one of 43 states that allow concealed weapons, and more than 230,000 residents are registered under the law.

The Texas state archives on Monday released thousands of pages of documents related to Miers' days as chairwoman of the Texas Lottery Commission, from 1995 to 2000, and her correspondence with then-Gov. George W. Bush.

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A transcript of her confirmation hearing before the state Senate in 1995 indicated that senators asked Miers only a few questions and that her nomination by Bush was generally unopposed.

On the issue of licensing charitable bingo groups, Miers was asked if the Ku Klux Klan could qualify to run a bingo operation. "Well, I would certainly hope not," she replied.

The records indicated that the Anti-Defamation League presented her its jurisprudence award in 1996 for her devotion to the "principles enshrined in the Constitution."

Miers and Bush exchanged several birthday notes and general well-wishes during her lottery tenure. Bush told Miers in a birthday note in 2000, "Have a great life!"

In 1997, Miers sent to Bush a late birthday card featuring a sad-looking dog and the note: "Dear Governor GWB, You are the best Governor ever - deserving of great respect!" She added, "At least for thirty days - you are not younger than me."

Bush wrote back to wish Miers a happy 52nd birthday, telling her that he appreciated her friendship and that she should "never hold back your sage advice." He ended the note with a postscript: "No more public scatology."

Later that year, in October, Miers wrote a note to Bush saying that she hopes the Bush twins, Jenna and Barbara, recognize that their parents are "cool."

© 2005 The Associated Press

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