DescentBB

"Do you fools realize that you also made a map for criminals to use to find homes to rob that have no guns in them to protect themselves?" one reader wrote on Facebook.

A local New York newspaper is drawing the ire of its readers after publishing an interactive map that shows the names and addresses of thousands of residents who have handgun permits.

The online map was published by The Journal News along with an article under the headline: "The gun owner next door: What you don't know about the weapons in your neighborhood."

The newspaper obtained, and then published, the names and addresses of pistol permit holders in Westchester and Rockland counties through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The article, in explaining the decision to publish the information, pointed to the school massacre in nearby Newtown, Conn., and the concerns of some residents about which of their neighbors might have firearms.

But readers swiftly condemned the move. They pointed out that the interactive map could make the gun owners a target, but also make clear to would-be robbers which homes do not contain a gun.

"Do you fools realize that you also made a map for criminals to use to find homes to rob that have no guns in them to protect themselves?" one reader wrote on Facebook.

"You have just destroyed the privacy of these law abiding citizens and by releasing this list, you have equated them to that of sex offenders and murders," wrote another. "These are law abiding gun owners, they are no danger to anyone except for criminals. And with this information you have made them targets for both criminals and anti gun lobbyist who i am sure are going to treat them like monsters."

The newspaper, in a written statement, defended the decision to run the names.

"The massacre in Newtown remains top-of-mind for many of our readers," the statement said. "In the past week, conversation on our opinion pages and on our website, LoHud.com, has been keenly focused on gun control.

"Our readers are understandably interested to know about guns in their neighborhoods. We obtained the names and addresses of Westchester and Rockland residents who are licensed to own handguns through routine Freedom of Information law public-records requests."

The map showed the locations of pistol permit holders -- though did not specify whether those shown actually owned a weapon. Since rifles and shotguns can be bought without a permit, that information was not included.

The newspaper separately noted that the reporter on the story "owns a Smith & Wesson 686 .357 Magnum and has had a residence permit in New York City for that weapon since February 2011."

vision wrote:How dare the newspaper publish public information!

Jeff250 wrote:Couldn't anyone have gotten this information through a FOIA request?

Sergeant Thorne wrote:I don't want to get all BlueFlames/Ferno/Top Gun, but some of you can really be fkin' dull sometimes... You're going to sit there and act like having the information publicly available, and having the information compiled into local, interactive, map form on popular public media highlighting specific people in your neighborhood are essentially the same thing. I'll just compile a list of Hispanics in my area as a public service to those who are interested, since the information is publicly available... To really have the full flavor, I would need the media in general to be pushing "go back to Mexico!". Now how about it? Publicly available so it's cool? I think I'll start handing out "Gun Owner" arm-bands...

Jeff250 wrote:

Sergeant Thorne wrote:I don't want to get all BlueFlames/Ferno/Top Gun, but some of you can really be fkin' dull sometimes... You're going to sit there and act like having the information publicly available, and having the information compiled into local, interactive, map form on popular public media highlighting specific people in your neighborhood are essentially the same thing. I'll just compile a list of Hispanics in my area as a public service to those who are interested, since the information is publicly available... To really have the full flavor, I would need the media in general to be pushing "go back to Mexico!". Now how about it? Publicly available so it's cool? I think I'll start handing out "Gun Owner" arm-bands...

I'd be more angry at the government for making publicly available this information and for anyone who has already been secretly using it than at the newspaper who compiled it. For better or for worse, it's the day and age that we live in that any publicly available information will be compiled into a form that's easily searchable on the Internet. We can't stop the technology, so we have to demand control over information at its source.

Something happened here similarly when a local university paper FOIA'd all of the university employee's salaries and published them into a *.csv.

What if someone from the Ukraine had created the Web site instead? Give it another year, and someone from there would have figured it out too.

For better or for worse, you can't stop people from compiling publicly available information. You can stop the information from being public though.

CUDA wrote:Lets make an interactive map with the addresses and phone #'s of the editors and the person who wrote the story for the newspaper. I wonder how many of those gun owners would like to have that information.

Sergeant Thorne wrote:Are you channeling callmeslick?

vision wrote:

CUDA wrote:Lets make an interactive map with the addresses and phone #'s of the editors and the person who wrote the story for the newspaper. I wonder how many of those gun owners would like to have that information.

So what, the gun owners can shoot them? Or do something other than handle their distaste like the rational adults they aren't because they own guns in the first place?

vision wrote:Since you are all so god-damn outraged by maps, here are a bunch of maps that should really send you over the top with fury:

Map 1
Map 2
Map 3
Map 4
Map 5

Have a good night.

Will Robinson wrote:As one of the millions of law abiding gun owners who never have and never will use it for murder I know his fear is irrational but I don't know how to cure him.

CUDA wrote:Lets make an interactive map with the addresses and phone #'s of the editors and the person who wrote the story for the newspaper. I wonder how many of those gun owners would like to have that information.

CUDA wrote:Lets make an interactive map with the addresses and phone #'s of the editors and the person who wrote the story for the newspaper. I wonder how many of those gun owners would like to have that information.

Sergeant Thorne wrote:"Stupid move" just doesn't say it, TC. Try criminally irresponsible. **** their excuses. That was so... terribly irresponsible, and the newspaper management should have been the final line of defense. I would be doing something about that **** if it happened around here.

The irony is in her attempt to shame or otherwise expose pistol owners to public harassment, she may very likely have struck a blow against those people without firearms.

And in case any of you are planning on defending this lady, consider that the paper could well have listed the numbers (by county, city, ...) without assigning a name and address to each one. The newspaper should be sued.

tunnelcat wrote:

CUDA wrote:Lets make an interactive map with the addresses and phone #'s of the editors and the person who wrote the story for the newspaper. I wonder how many of those gun owners would like to have that information.

And just what should the gun owners DO with that information? Go out and shoot them for their insolence? That'd work out real well I'll bet, and it might just make already gun-phobic people want even more gun laws put in place in reaction. We don't need any more reactionary thinking.

Will Robinson wrote:I think vision using maps of famine and drought etc as a greater example illustrates his fear of that which he cant control. A Freudian slip of sorts. To him people with guns are just as scary and uncontrollable as the plague.

vision wrote:@CUDA Harassing phone calls are a very mature way to handle this situation. That will really help win over public opinion on gun ownership. I'm glad you get your wish. Enjoy! hahaha.

vision wrote:

Will Robinson wrote:I think vision using maps of famine and drought etc as a greater example illustrates his fear of that which he cant control. A Freudian slip of sorts. To him people with guns are just as scary and uncontrollable as the plague.

ROFL. Way to completely miss the point. Here, I'll spell it out for you: There are bigger problems in the world than this list, or even the whole gun rights argument. I don't own a gun and can't imagine a rational reason to own one under any circumstances.

.

vision wrote:

Will Robinson wrote:I think vision using maps of famine and drought etc as a greater example illustrates his fear of that which he cant control. A Freudian slip of sorts. To him people with guns are just as scary and uncontrollable as the plague.

ROFL. Way to completely miss the point. Here, I'll spell it out for you: There are bigger problems in the world than this list, or even the whole gun rights argument. I don't own a gun and can't imagine a rational reason to own one under any circumstances.

@CUDA Harassing phone calls are a very mature way to handle this situation. That will really help win over public opinion on gun ownership. I'm glad you get your wish. Enjoy! hahaha.

CUDA wrote:

tunnelcat wrote:

CUDA wrote:Lets make an interactive map with the addresses and phone #'s of the editors and the person who wrote the story for the newspaper. I wonder how many of those gun owners would like to have that information.

And just what should the gun owners DO with that information? Go out and shoot them for their insolence? That'd work out real well I'll bet, and it might just make already gun-phobic people want even more gun laws put in place in reaction. We don't need any more reactionary thinking.

way to knee jerk just like vision did.
commenting on a post without reading the rest of the following posts usually doesn't bode will for your stance.

vision wrote:Here, I'll spell it out for you: There are bigger problems in the world than this list, or even the whole gun rights argument

vision wrote:
ROFL. Way to completely miss the point. Here, I'll spell it out for you: There are bigger problems in the world than this list, or even the whole gun rights argument.

vision wrote:I don't own a gun and can't imagine a rational reason to own one under any circumstances.

Will Robinson wrote:

CUDA wrote:Lets make an interactive map with the addresses and phone #'s of the editors and the person who wrote the story for the newspaper. I wonder how many of those gun owners would like to have that information.

You got your wish:
offending paper's employees info published
Some interesting bits in there about just who makes up the list of gun permit holders, like the "...abused women who were under protective order and in hiding and they’re terribly afraid that now their names and addresses are all over the Internet and accessible through that map.”

Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2012/12/b ... z2GGv33FBM

vision wrote:Sorry, I didn't know you were all Olympic level marksmen. I'm sure all the legitimate gun owners in the US just want to shoot targets all day. It's all the rage from what I hear, totally taking the country by storm. Shooting ranges are about as popular as nail salons these days.

Also, hurray guns!