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A newspaper in New York has received a wave of criticism from its readers after publishing the names and addresses of all of the individuals with handgun or pistol permits in its coverage area.

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 on the paper's on-line site 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...

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..." the statement read.

The paper declined to answer further questions about the map.

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ORIGINAL: Fightdirecto

quote:

A newspaper in New York has received a wave of criticism from its readers after publishing the names and addresses of all of the individuals with handgun or pistol permits in its coverage area.
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 on the paper's on-line site 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...
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..." the statement read.
The paper declined to answer further questions about the map.

If you own a gun to protect yourself - why not let everyone know it so that they'll stay away from you? Kind of like a country (i.e. the United States) letting the world know it has atomic bombs as a deterrent to another country attacking them.
FYI: I have a .380 Colt automatic pistol and a working flintlock musket (.75 caliber) and live in the Elmwood section of Providence, Rhode Island. So stay away from my house if you know what's good for ya. ;-)
Newspaper Posts Gun Owners' Names
[image]local://upfiles/42188/43419FC36DC5470BB1A97F3D361802ED.jpg[/image]

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ORIGINAL: DesideriScuri

....If they don't know who is armed and who isn't, it protects all individuals, not just the ones that are armed. .........

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ORIGINAL: SimplyMichael

Concealed carry is why tourists are preyed upon in Florida, a local might shoot you.

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ORIGINAL: Fightdirecto

If you own a gun to protect yourself - why not let everyone know it so that they'll stay away from you? Kind of like a country (i.e. the United States) letting the world know it has atomic bombs as a deterrent to another country attacking them.

FYI: I have a .380 Colt automatic pistol and a working flintlock musket (.75 caliber) and live in the Elmwood section of Providence, Rhode Island. So stay away from my house if you know what's good for ya. ;-)

Newspaper Posts Gun Owners' Names

[image]local://upfiles/42188/43419FC36DC5470BB1A97F3D361802ED.jpg[/image]

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ORIGINAL: LizDeluxe

It doesn't always work out so well for the bad guys. From today's Atlanta Journal - Constitution:

Robbery suspect shot and killed by intended victim

Maybe the robbers where you live are Mensa candidates.

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ORIGINAL: igor2003

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ORIGINAL: Fightdirecto

If you own a gun to protect yourself - why not let everyone know it so that they'll stay away from you? Kind of like a country (i.e. the United States) letting the world know it has atomic bombs as a deterrent to another country attacking them.

FYI: I have a .380 Colt automatic pistol and a working flintlock musket (.75 caliber) and live in the Elmwood section of Providence, Rhode Island. So stay away from my house if you know what's good for ya. ;-)

Newspaper Posts Gun Owners' Names

[image]local://upfiles/42188/43419FC36DC5470BB1A97F3D361802ED.jpg[/image]

The newspaper probably thought they were being really crafty with their article, and were really putting gun owners in their place. Unfortunately, what they actually did was to put up a prcise road map for would-be gun thiefs as to exactly which houses they should hit while the owners aren't at home.

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ORIGINAL: Nosathro

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ORIGINAL: igor2003

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ORIGINAL: Fightdirecto

If you own a gun to protect yourself - why not let everyone know it so that they'll stay away from you? Kind of like a country (i.e. the United States) letting the world know it has atomic bombs as a deterrent to another country attacking them.

FYI: I have a .380 Colt automatic pistol and a working flintlock musket (.75 caliber) and live in the Elmwood section of Providence, Rhode Island. So stay away from my house if you know what's good for ya. ;-)

Newspaper Posts Gun Owners' Names

[image]local://upfiles/42188/43419FC36DC5470BB1A97F3D361802ED.jpg[/image]

The newspaper probably thought they were being really crafty with their article, and were really putting gun owners in their place. Unfortunately, what they actually did was to put up a prcise road map for would-be gun thiefs as to exactly which houses they should hit while the owners aren't at home.

I think people are forgetting something...all of this was a matter of public record. Anyone thiefs included, just had to go to the Hall of Records and find this information.

"All of the names and addresses were compiled through public records."

The newspaper did nothing wrong.

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ORIGINAL: Nosathro
I think people are forgetting something...all of this was a matter of public record. Anyone thiefs included, just had to go to the Hall of Records and find this information.
"All of the names and addresses were compiled through public records."
The newspaper did nothing wrong.

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ORIGINAL: Fightdirecto

If you own a gun to protect yourself - why not let everyone know it so that they'll stay away from you? Kind of like a country (i.e. the United States) letting the world know it has atomic bombs as a deterrent to another country attacking them.

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ORIGINAL: Okeanos

I guess what bugs me most about this analogy is the historical ignorance that it exhibits: when the USA developed the bomb, they did not demonstrate it by blowing off the top of Mt Fuji or some uninhabited island; instead, they performed two surprise attacks against fleshy targets containing huge numbers of civilians. So, historically, a more apt analogy would be "if you one day go buy yourself a gun, why not go meet that guy you frequently get into fistfights with, and surprise him by blowing his head off?"

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(*1) funny, how the USA has never been attacked on its own land, so these creatively named "Defense" forces have never been actually used for defense, only for assaulting other nations.