Right up in arms over paper's gun map
A suburban New York newspaper is under fire from conservatives
and gun rights advocates after publishing the names and addresses — and a
locator map of people who possess pistol permits in several suburban
counties.
“The newspaper didn’t even feel it necessary to publish a rationale for that violation of privacy — publishing the names and addresses of gun owners makes them more vulnerable to robbery when they aren’t at home, since criminals will know where the guns are,” charged Ben Shapiro of Breitbart.com.
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Conservatives lit up Twitter and the blogosphere in condemning the piece.
“I guess nobody could object to people putting the newspaper staff’s addresses on the Web now, right?” snarked Instapundit, writing at Pajamas Media.
“Outrageous,” blared a headline at the Gateway Pundit.
“Time to publish the addresses of everyone who works at The Journal News, this is unforgivable,” tweeted Townhall.com’s Katie Pavlich.
Dan Riehl, a conservative writer at the blog Riehl World View, swung back at the Journal News by offering up Twitter accounts and some email addresses of people affiliated with the paper.
Tammy Bruce, a conservative talk show host, said the piece endangers non-gun owners.
“The other reason why what http://www.lohud.com did is so dangerous? It reveals to criminals which homes *are not* protected by a firearm,” she tweeted.
Another conservative talk show host, Simon Conway, sought to spur his Twitter followers to action.
“OUTRAGED by @LoHud publishing full list of gun owners in NY Make sure you let parent Co. @gannett know how disgusted you are too!” Conway wrote.
In a separate piece, the Journal News cited the interest readers might have in public information about gun owners.
“In the wake of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., and amid renewed nationwide calls for stronger gun control, some Lower Hudson Valley residents would like lawmakers to expand the amount of information the public can find out about gun owners,” wrote the paper’s Dwight R. Worley. “About 44,000 people in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam — one out of every 23 adults — are licensed to own a handgun.”
But that didn’t resonate with some outraged readers, who posted scathing comments at the bottom of the piece, via accounts linked to Facebook.
“This is CRAZY!!” wrote Curtis Maenza. “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!!!”
“This is the single most irresponsible and dangerous piece of “journalism” I have ever seen,” charged Robert Watchel. “Criminals can now target a specific neighborhood, wait for pistol permit holders to leave for work and burgarlize their homes looking for firearms.”
A reader named Mark T. Hoops took a slightly more nuanced tack.
“Any member of the public has a right to inquire about a specific person as to licensure status,” he wrote. “That said, your newspaper does not have the right to ADVERTISE this information WHOLESALE. What you have done is reprehensible.”
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“The newspaper didn’t even feel it necessary to publish a rationale for that violation of privacy — publishing the names and addresses of gun owners makes them more vulnerable to robbery when they aren’t at home, since criminals will know where the guns are,” charged Ben Shapiro of Breitbart.com.
Continue Reading
The story,
published by the White Plains-based Journal News and posted on its
website, LoHud.com, includes maps of Westchester county to the north of
New York City and Rockland county to the north west — with the names and
addresses of people with gun licenses represented by dots — on which
readers can click to learn that information. It was posted over the
weekend.
“Being included in this map does not mean the individual at a
specific location owns a weapon, just that they are licensed to do so,”
the newspaper cautioned, and noted that the information was the result
of Freedom of Information Act requests.Conservatives lit up Twitter and the blogosphere in condemning the piece.
“I guess nobody could object to people putting the newspaper staff’s addresses on the Web now, right?” snarked Instapundit, writing at Pajamas Media.
“Outrageous,” blared a headline at the Gateway Pundit.
“Time to publish the addresses of everyone who works at The Journal News, this is unforgivable,” tweeted Townhall.com’s Katie Pavlich.
Dan Riehl, a conservative writer at the blog Riehl World View, swung back at the Journal News by offering up Twitter accounts and some email addresses of people affiliated with the paper.
Tammy Bruce, a conservative talk show host, said the piece endangers non-gun owners.
“The other reason why what http://www.lohud.com did is so dangerous? It reveals to criminals which homes *are not* protected by a firearm,” she tweeted.
Another conservative talk show host, Simon Conway, sought to spur his Twitter followers to action.
“OUTRAGED by @LoHud publishing full list of gun owners in NY Make sure you let parent Co. @gannett know how disgusted you are too!” Conway wrote.
In a separate piece, the Journal News cited the interest readers might have in public information about gun owners.
“In the wake of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., and amid renewed nationwide calls for stronger gun control, some Lower Hudson Valley residents would like lawmakers to expand the amount of information the public can find out about gun owners,” wrote the paper’s Dwight R. Worley. “About 44,000 people in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam — one out of every 23 adults — are licensed to own a handgun.”
But that didn’t resonate with some outraged readers, who posted scathing comments at the bottom of the piece, via accounts linked to Facebook.
“This is CRAZY!!” wrote Curtis Maenza. “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!!!”
“This is the single most irresponsible and dangerous piece of “journalism” I have ever seen,” charged Robert Watchel. “Criminals can now target a specific neighborhood, wait for pistol permit holders to leave for work and burgarlize their homes looking for firearms.”
A reader named Mark T. Hoops took a slightly more nuanced tack.
“Any member of the public has a right to inquire about a specific person as to licensure status,” he wrote. “That said, your newspaper does not have the right to ADVERTISE this information WHOLESALE. What you have done is reprehensible.”
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Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2012/12/right-up-in-arms-on-papers-gun-map-85483.html#ixzz2GEHxfnCZ
Like I have said before all this won't solve anything. People simply will get guns without registering them. How ridiculous are people going to get? If honest people give up their guns then only Criminals will have semi-automatic Assault rifles. Also, any gunsmith or machinist can make any semi-automatic weapon an automatic weapon with the right tools in their garage. All these people against people owning Any Weapons are doing is driving people who own guns underground which only is going to be less safe for everyone. How crazy is this?
What's happening right now is Insanity. It reminds me of the Abortion issue that never ends in some ways. However, because of the Internet I have a feeling this is going to get really bad and that won't be good for anyone!
Also, how many people were killed in Mexico last year or so (maybe 50,000) and if you notice it is spilling over more and more into the U.S. Within a year or two most people within 50 miles of the Mexico U.S. Border might think they need assault rifles to protect their families from the violence.
The lawyers are going to have a field day with this one I can see it coming on both sides.
Another problem with this map is that it obviously contains police (who have to have weapons) military(who have to have weapons) (FBI who have to have weapons) and CIA (whose weapons might not legally exist and the same for (NSA) and other secret organizations. By publishing these maps you endanger not only private citizens but EVERYONE who protects private citizens with weapons like Police, Firemen and all public officials body guards as well as bodyguards of anyone in the U.S.
I think the Congress or an Executive Order from the President might be forthcoming soon!
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