Hundreds of residents in New York's Westchester and Rockland counties were surprised to find their names and addresses listed on a map posted by The Journal News on Sunday. Users can click any dot on the map to see which of their neighbors has a permit for a gun.
The map sparked more than 500 comments from readers within a day of its appearance on the website, many of them voicing outrage at the paper's decision to make the information public.
"This is CRAZY!! why in the world would you post every licensed gun
owner information?? What do you hope to accomplish by doing this. This
is the type of thing you do for sex offenders not law abiding gun
owners. What next? should i hang a flag outside my house that says I own
a gun? I am canceling my subscription with your paper today!!!" said
commenter Curtis Maenza.
"How about a map of the editorial staff and publishers of Gannett and
Journal News with names and addresses of their families…," wrote
commenter George Thompson.
All of the names and addresses were compiled through public records. The
paper also requested the information from Putnam County, which is still
compiling the records for publication, according to The Journal News'
website.
In a statement to ABC News, The Journal News said its readers "are
understandably interested to know about guns in their neighborhoods,"
because of the conversation about gun control on its website after the
shooting in Newtown, Conn., last week.
"We obtained the names and addresses of Westchester and Rockland
residents who are licensed to own handguns through routine Freedom of
Information law requests. We also requested information on the number
and types of guns owned by permit holders, but officials in the county
clerks offices in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties maintained
that those specifics were not public record," the statement read.
"New York's top public-records expert, Robert Freeman, disagrees," it added.
The paper declined to answer further questions about the map.
end quote from:
Two
things. When someone does this why should people register their weapons
if they are serious about defending their families and not having
people harm or kill them for having weapons?
I guess I see this as an extremely dangerous Slippery Slope. First people want to end guns in order to not have anymore mass murders. Then someone doesn't think this through right and pubishes everyone who has a gun. Then someone hurts people (in various ways) who own guns. Then people start not registering their guns so people won't hurt them. This then causes other problems of various kinds. Then what happens?
If the homes where gun owners are published then criminals can know where not to rob. By publishing this list it is only a list for places where robbers don't want to break in and rape and kill.
This whole thing is getting more impractical and absolutely insane by the moment. Where are people with common sense?
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