SUN CITY CENTER, Fla. -- Florida Commissioner of Agriculture and Republican gubernatorial candidate Adam Putnam made a campaign stop in Sun City Center on Saturday afternoon.

It happened just a day after news broke of a 2017 investigation that found the state failed to do criminal background checks on concealed weapons permit applications from February 2016-March 2017.

That time period saw a large spike in applicants, with hundreds of thousands being reported in that time frame.

Putnam publicly responded in Sun City Center, saying that report is "inaccurate and misleading."

“What’s being misleadingly reported is that contrary to that," Putnam said. "These applications did undergo the background review. It was only on those 365 that the employee failed in her duties to protect the public.”

A department employee failed to conduct criminal background checks on the 365 applicants because her system login didn't work.

Of those applicants, 291 had their permits revoked after the investigation in March 2017.

Putnam didn't say how long it took before that happened.

Spectrum Bay News 9 asked why nothing was done to correct the login issue in the first place, as the investigation revealed that the employee had emailed IT about it in 2016.

Putnam said that IT emailed her instructions on how to fix the issue, but no further action was taken.

He says he was proactive in holding everyone accountable.

“I will continue to hold all of my people accountable across the entire department for all of the responsibilities we have, including licensing, but not limited to licensing,” Putnam said.

Putnam says despite the serious error, there were still background checks in place during that time. There are three databases that are reviewed as part of the application process. Two of them are fingerprint based, and the third is the NICS system, which is the one that was not followed up on.

The incident has drawn heavy criticism towards Putnam from both sides as he continues his run for governor.

Several state leaders have called for his resignation.

A few hours later at the Democratic Party gubernatorial debate in Pinellas Park, voters were outraged.

“Well, it takes one to kill people. How many people shot up parkland? How many? One. So, you know, if [Putnam] wants to equivocate on numbers like that, that's not looking so good for him I think,” said Holly Hill, a Winter Haven resident.

“I think it's the number one concern right now. People are really concerned right now. They’re tired of this. And like they said [in the debate], it’s a shame that the children had to stand up and make us parents stand up and do something about it,” said Holly Isaacs, a Palm Harbor resident.