LANSING, MI -- The National Rifle Association on Tuesday praised new Michigan laws formally exempting gun records from public disclosure rules.

Chris W. Cox of the NRA's institute for legislative action thanked legislators and Gov. Rick Snyder "for ensuring that law-abiding gun owners are protected from unwarranted scrutiny and discrimination merely for exercising their fundamental, constitutional right to keep and bear arms."

Many gun records were already inaccessible through Freedom of Information Act requests in Michigan. The state Supreme Court, in a 1999 opinion, held that disclosing gun registration records of private citizens would be an "unwarranted invasion of privacy," but the case law had not been codified in state statute.

Sponsors championed the six-bill package, signed by Snyder earlier Tuesday, as a response to the decision by a suburban New York newspaper to publish an online map showing names and addresses of pistol permit holders in the wake of a tragic 2012 school shooting in Connecticut.

"Gun owners' information should be protected from unscrupulous media organizations that print personal information in an effort to ostracize law-abiding individuals who are simply exercising a constitutional right," said Cox.

The legislation, which passed the state Senate by wide margins but faced some opposition in the House, was sponsored by Republican Sens. Phil Pavlov and Geoff Hansen and Reps. Aric Nesbitt, Hugh Crawford, Bruce Rendon and Kevin Cotter.

The news laws amend the Michigan Handgun Act to exempt gun ownership forms, permits or licenses from FOIA requests. Law enforcement officers can continue to access gun records in some cases through a Michigan State Police database that will be configured to record their name, time and date at which the request was made.

The Michigan Press Association spoke out against the bills earlier this year on the grounds they would further restrict access to government records compiled with public dollars.

"We always oppose closing things the government is in charge of, and they are in charge of this licensing," spokesperson Lisa McGraw told MLive, arguing the importance of public records. "If we have a crazy neighbor or somebody stalking us, I think it would be nice to access records and find out if they have a gun."

Jonathan Oosting is a Capitol reporter for MLive Media Group. Email him, find him on Facebook or follow him on Twitter.