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Newspaper sparks outrage for publishing names, addresses of gun owners

Re: Newspaper helps ensure safety of registered gun owners

It's hard to know what the editorial staff at this newspaper was thinking when they decided to expend the resources to put together this interactive map.

How do they think it serves the public interest to make a one stop shop for finding out who holds a gun permit in their neighborhoods? This info was part of the public record so anyone who wanted to know which neighbors had gun permits could do so already. Why was such a map unimportant prior to the Sandy Hook massacre?

It smacks of emotional opportunism, and unfairly puts a red "A" on the breasts of legal permit holders.
 
Re: Newspaper helps ensure safety of registered gun owners

neighbor---guns1_o.jpg
 
Re: Newspaper helps ensure safety of registered gun owners

The names and addresses of the two counties' permit-holding residents were obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. The website notes that the map does not indicate whether the residents own handguns, only that they are legally able to, and that the data do not pertain to rifles or shotguns -- which can be bought without a permit.....snip~


Good thing the list doesn't include Shotguns and Rifles. Hope they keep a watch out from now forward on that Crime stat with Home Burglaries and Home invasions.
 
Re: Newspaper helps ensure safety of registered gun owners

Another good reason all attempts at gun registration should be resisted.
 
Re: Newspaper helps ensure safety of registered gun owners

Another good reason all attempts at gun registration should be resisted.

This was not even about registration or ownership, this was about renting your constitutional right to keep and bear arms. I call a requirement for paying a state/county/city gov't rent "infringement" when all that they are "renting" is my basic Constitutional rights back to me. Why is this nonsense permitted? Are those citizens not on "the list" denied their Constitutional rights simply because they chose not to pay the latest "right rental" fee locally imposed? I am sure that there are far more gun owners than those listed, but they were simply smart enough not to pay extra for what the Constitution grants to all, free of charge and without public announcement of their "too rich" users. I am not "too rich" so I will not pay rights rental fees, I will take my chances that a judge will find this nonsense to be "infringement" and demand that this "rights rental" listing cease immediately. ;)
 
Re: Newspaper helps ensure safety of registered gun owners

I certainly hope the owners have safes, security systems and the local cops have improved their response times. While the criminals now know which houses not to go to when the owner is home, if they want guns, then they also know which ones to go to when the owner isn't home.
 
Re: Newspaper helps ensure safety of registered gun owners

Correct me if I am wrong, but everyone here seems to think that if the bad guys know you have guns, they will stay away. I would say the knowledge of gun ownership brings a certain type of thief. One who is looking for guns and a safe.

One thing that makes someone more bold is intel. If they know more about your residence then the one down the street, they are going to go after yours.
 
Re: Newspaper helps ensure safety of registered gun owners

The names and addresses of the two counties' permit-holding residents were obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. The website notes that the map does not indicate whether the residents own handguns, only that they are legally able to, and that the data do not pertain to rifles or shotguns -- which can be bought without a permit.....snip~


Good thing the list doesn't include Shotguns and Rifles. Hope they keep a watch out from now forward on that Crime stat with Home Burglaries and Home invasions.

These sorts of lists shouldn't exist in the first place.
 
Re: Newspaper helps ensure safety of registered gun owners

These sorts of lists shouldn't exist in the first place.

Took this paper the Journal to go thru Freedom of Info Acts to get the Information as to what what public knowledge anyways. They must have thought it would be like Putting a Red Letter A on their Foreheads. Course these lists would then also be around for any invading force to access and seek out those that could be a problem too. Let alone our own Government.
 
Re: Newspaper helps ensure safety of registered gun owners

Course these lists would then also be around for any invading force to access and seek out those that could be a problem too. Let alone our own Government.


Exactly, which is why I don't think these lists should exist against the individual. Against government, sure, but the individual, no. How many lists do you think there really are out there? How many are you on? I think the answer would shock and infuriate us all.
 
Re: Newspaper helps ensure safety of registered gun owners

Correct me if I am wrong, but everyone here seems to think that if the bad guys know you have guns, they will stay away. I would say the knowledge of gun ownership brings a certain type of thief. One who is looking for guns and a safe.

One thing that makes someone more bold is intel. If they know more about your residence then the one down the street, they are going to go after yours.

But I heard from many gun enthusiasts that gun actually deter criminals because they get afraid of being shot? How many times have we heard the idea that if everyone had guns then crime would drop? Now you want it on the other side where crime goes up? Is this Romnesia effecting society, or do you always take completely contradicting sides of an argument?

BTW you know what would solve the problem of theives coming into your house looking for a gun? Not having one for them to steal.
 
Re: Newspaper helps ensure safety of registered gun owners

The proper response is to research the addresses, phone numbers and places of employment of all children and relatives of all of the newspaper's staff, plus that of all staff members - along with as many photographs of each of them personally and of the front of their houses - plus estimated income of each - as can be obtained - and of all delivery employees on a similar blog and interactive map for anyone who wants to look them up.

That way if anyone has a story to report, they have the maximum available information to do so with.
 
Re: Newspaper helps ensure safety of registered gun owners

But I heard from many gun enthusiasts that gun actually deter criminals because they get afraid of being shot? How many times have we heard the idea that if everyone had guns then crime would drop? Now you want it on the other side where crime goes up? Is this Romnesia effecting society, or do you always take completely contradicting sides of an argument?

BTW you know what would solve the problem of theives coming into your house looking for a gun? Not having one for them to steal.

Whether gun ownership has a positive or negative affect upon crime is often the result of local laws. For example, in New York, you have to have a permit to buy, you have to have a permit to carry. That is how this list got compiled in the first place. Knowing a home belongs to a registered gun owner will deter at least to knowledgeable criminals when the gun owner is home. However, it increases the chances of the home being broken into when the owner is not home. This is because the criminals know that in all likelihood, the home owner has not taken the gun with him, local law makes it too difficult.

Now contrast that with places like Texas and Oklahoma. No permit is required to purchase a gun. So no such list can even be obtained. Further, there is not permit required to transport you guns. Oklahoma even has open carry now. So even if you know a particular home has a gun, you don't know if the owner took it with them or not.

You are correct, not having one doesn't allow it to be stolen. But it also leaves you more vulnerable to attack. There is no realistic or possible way to remove all guns from American society. So you can post all you want about people not having them, rant all you want about taking them away, but keep in mind, it ain't going to happen, at least not in our lifetimes. And if you think they should be taken away and advocate for others to do it, I want to see you personally and anyone else calling for removing them, amongst those who come for mine. If you are unwilling to risk yourself for you belief, what right do you have to demand that others risk their lives for your beliefs?
 
Newspaper sparks outrage for publishing names, addresses of gun owners - CNN.com

Personally, I want the bad guys to know there is a gun owner living in my house. Though I'll feel bad for my neighbor when they get robbed instead.

If a robber knows you have a gun in your house, he'll just wear armor (along w/his bringing his gun) and/or bring in extra armed help when he tries to rob it.

This is why civilians have to buy their guns from 3rd party vendors (i. e. gun shows) or illegally, to avoid being tracked.
 
If a robber knows you have a gun in your house, he'll just wear armor (along w/his bringing his gun) and/or bring in extra armed help when he tries to rob it.

This is why civilians have to buy their guns from 3rd party vendors (i. e. gun shows) or illegally, to avoid being tracked.

Or we could just keep on working on getting registration laws overturned so nobody has to be a criminal to safely and legally exercise a basic right.
 
If a robber knows you have a gun in your house, he'll just wear armor (along w/his bringing his gun) and/or bring in extra armed help when he tries to rob it.

He'll wear armor?! :lamo
 
If a robber knows you have a gun in your house, he'll just wear armor (along w/his bringing his gun) and/or bring in extra armed help when he tries to rob it.

This is why civilians have to buy their guns from 3rd party vendors (i. e. gun shows) or illegally, to avoid being tracked.

While there are exceptions to everything, I suspect that if a robber had their choice to rob a home that they knew in advance was protected by an armed homeowner and the one which was not - they would not go out of their way to look for trouble from the armed homeowner. Now the one exception would be if they wanted the arms themselves.
 
What an interesting dilemma we find ourselves in. Here we have a person using his First Amendment rights to criticize the Second.

If constitutional rights should be unlimited, then what this person did should be protected under free speech.

Oh, and just to be clear, I am strongly opposed to posting the locations of all those gun owners on a map.
 
Re: Newspaper helps ensure safety of registered gun owners

It's hard to know what the editorial staff at this newspaper was thinking when they decided to expend the resources to put together this interactive map.

How do they think it serves the public interest to make a one stop shop for finding out who holds a gun permit in their neighborhoods? This info was part of the public record so anyone who wanted to know which neighbors had gun permits could do so already. Why was such a map unimportant prior to the Sandy Hook massacre?

It smacks of emotional opportunism, and unfairly puts a red "A" on the breasts of legal permit holders.
That pretty well sums up my thoughts.

The important question people should be asking is what was the purpose for this story in the first place? Seems like an irrational, agenda driven response to a tragedy. Let's see... 26 people including 20 children get gunned down by a deranged psychopath so how about we gather the names of all LEGAL gun permit holders and make them part of an interactive web-page so people can see exactly who and where they are???

Forgive me, but I'm at a loss for just what in the hell they are trying to accomplish with this...
 
While there are exceptions to everything, I suspect that if a robber had their choice to rob a home that they knew in advance was protected by an armed homeowner and the one which was not - they would not go out of their way to look for trouble from the armed homeowner. Now the one exception would be if they wanted the arms themselves.

I don't believe there are too many home robbers who aren't armed :rolleyes:
 
There appears to be some confusion in this thread. A criminal is merely someone who breaks the law, not necessarily someone who is malevolent. A man who buys a gun illegally to defend himself is a criminal, by definition, but not bad.

Similarly, a bank that lobbies the federal government to give it a taxpayer bailout is definitely bad (it's a thief) but is not breaking the law.

All smart people--both good guys and bad guys--break laws when it's logical for them to do so and where doing so doesn't trample on their ethics. The only difference is that bad guys have fewer ethics.
 
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