Gun owners outed by newspaper

[satellite66]

GUN OWNERS OUTED BY NEWSPAPER
By
Neal Boortz
@ February 16, 2009 9:02 AM

Things are getting heated in Memphis, Tennessee where a newspaper decided it would be a good idea to publish all the names and information of gun owners in the state. The Commercial Appeal's Web site now lists all those in Tennessee who have a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

The outcry from the public has been so huge, that the paper felt the need to defend its decision. I thought that you might enjoy a few of the reasons why the paper supports the need to know who in your neighborhood is a handgun owner:

* A mom might now check the list to see if the parents at her kid's sleep-over next door had a concealed weapon permit. If so, maybe it would be worth talking to them to make sure the gun is locked up.
* A school official, concerned about whether teachers were bringing guns onto school grounds, might check the list to see whether anyone on the staff has a permit to carry, and then have a discussion about it.
* Business people who sell goods and services that might be of interest to those who carry concealed weapons might use the list to generate new leads.
* But there is one overriding, enduring reason the permit-to-carry list needs to be public. Once a concealed weapon is pulled out at a shopping center, a hospital or a business, what happens next with that gun becomes a matter of public concern to everyone.

Hey ... I have an idea here. Why doesn't this same newspaper publish a list of all people who have communicable diseases? How about a list of people with HIV? Maybe some mother would be a little concerned about her child spending the night at a friend's home where mom and dad have full-blown AIDS. Maybe a school official might like to know which teachers are HIV positive, and which are not.

We know the reason, don't we? The newspaper is philosophically opposed to people owning and carrying guns ... and this is a way for them to fight back.

Link

[bcj1755]

*sniff sniff* Do I smell a lawsuit coming up? I know I'd sue a local paper that did that here.

[cycloneman]

Originally Posted by satellite66

GUN OWNERS OUTED BY NEWSPAPER
By
Neal Boortz
@ February 16, 2009 9:02 AM

Things are getting heated in Memphis, Tennessee where a newspaper decided it would be a good idea to publish all the names and information of gun owners in the state. The Commercial Appeal's Web site now lists all those in Tennessee who have a permit to carry a concealed weapon.

The outcry from the public has been so huge, that the paper felt the need to defend its decision. I thought that you might enjoy a few of the reasons why the paper supports the need to know who in your neighborhood is a handgun owner:

* A mom might now check the list to see if the parents at her kid's sleep-over next door had a concealed weapon permit. If so, maybe it would be worth talking to them to make sure the gun is locked up.
* A school official, concerned about whether teachers were bringing guns onto school grounds, might check the list to see whether anyone on the staff has a permit to carry, and then have a discussion about it.
* Business people who sell goods and services that might be of interest to those who carry concealed weapons might use the list to generate new leads.
* But there is one overriding, enduring reason the permit-to-carry list needs to be public. Once a concealed weapon is pulled out at a shopping center, a hospital or a business, what happens next with that gun becomes a matter of public concern to everyone.

Hey ... I have an idea here. Why doesn't this same newspaper publish a list of all people who have communicable diseases? How about a list of people with HIV? Maybe some mother would be a little concerned about her child spending the night at a friend's home where mom and dad have full-blown AIDS. Maybe a school official might like to know which teachers are HIV positive, and which are not.

We know the reason, don't we? The newspaper is philosophically opposed to people owning and carrying guns ... and this is a way for them to fight back.

Link

i want a list of alcholics, those on anti depressents, and all those women with a yeast infection.

[Vladimir]

I want a list of journalists...

[Doug.38PR]

How would a newspaper have access to that kind of personal information?

[ponycar17]

Maybe the list should be published if concealed weapons permit holders were generally prone to household accidents involving guns of if we were predisposed to commit violent crimes. Neither of those things are true. This is a good example of a bunch of morons not looking at facts to base their decisions upon.

[ponycar17]

Oh, I posted the newspaper a nice email. I accused them of being no better than domestic terrorists by decreasing citizens' safety.

Sir, your rebuttal to the decision to post a database listing concealed weapons permit holders is unncacceptable. You have created a potential public health problem. First, gun owners have helped reduce the instance of violent crime in every state where 'shall issue' permit laws have been instated. The proof lies in the 40 states whom now offer 'shall issue' permits.

In every state where mass outbreaks of violent crime has been predicted prior to the issuance of concealed weapons permits to average citizens, the concerns have been unfounded. Crime has actually decreased SIGNIFICANTLY in some states. See FL's example.

* Florida adopted a right-to-carry law in 1987. At the time the law was passed, critics predicted increases in violence. The founder of the National Organization of Women, Betty Friedan stated:



"lethal violence, even in self defense, only engenders more violence." (13)




* When the law went into effect, the Dade County Police began a program to record all arrest and non arrest incidents involving concealed carry licensees. Between September of 1987 and August of 1992, Dade County recorded 4 crimes committed by licensees with firearms. None of these crimes resulted in an injury. The record keeping program was abandoned in 1992 because there were not enough incidents to justify tracking them. (13)(15)

* Florida adopted a right-to-carry law in 1987. Between 1987 and 1996, these changes occurred:




Florida
United States

homicide rate
-36%
-0.4%

firearm homicide rate
-37%
+15%

handgun homicide rate
-41%
+24%


(3)


* 221,443 concealed carry licenses were issued in Florida between October of 1987 and April of 1994. During that time, Florida recorded 18 crimes committed by licensees with firearms. (15)


From http://www.justfacts.com/guncontrol....o-Carry%20Laws



By your making available the list of permit holders in TN, you make it less likely that permit holders will be carrying, thereby decreasing the implied effect which has been readily observed in state after state. When law-abiding citizens can carry weapons, crime is deterred. By your limiting the number of citizens carrying by sheer intimidation, you are making the streets less safe. You are the equivalent of domestic terrorists by intentionally making Americans less safe in order to accomplish a political agenda.

Please read the following link and educate yourself as well as a liberal arts buffoon can...

http://www.gunfacts.info

Regards,
Thinking US Citizen

If you care to sound off to these idiots, do it at this link...

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news...s/?partner=RSS

And this link is better to revisit the story and/or forward it along to your like-minded acquaintances.

http://boortz.com/nealz_nuze/2009/02...newspaper.html

[durk]

Thanks Ponycar. Please keep us posted and let us know if they respond.

[delta13soultaker]

My letter..........

Sex offenders I see a need for a public list.

Tax evaders I see a need for a public list.

Drunk drivers, corrupt cops, scamming mechanics, etc.

But law abiding citizens who took the time to legally register their weapon with police, attend classes, and meet certification standards?

Here's what you have done: A man or woman finds their self in a position to need a handgun at all times (threats from estranged spouse, small business carrying large cash deposits from work after dark, oldest daughter being threatened by a psycho ex...millions of legit reasons...) Now because of your public list...instead of getting certified, qualified, and educated to carry the handgun...now that person will just carry the handgun locked and loaded in public with no formal training.

Law abiding citizens don't carry for fun. Nobody lugs a pound of steel in his/her waistband and spends money on clothes to cover it for kicks. They carry a weapon because some circumstance makes them feel their life or a loved one's is in danger.

Your list will not stop anyone from carrying a handgun. They will just stay away from your list by not getting a permit! If anything, you just put the public in real danger.

What you have done is almost like put a bunch of unlicensed drivers on the road by scaring them away from the DMV!

By the way...you don't have a sex offender list, but you have CCW permits listed???!!! With all respect, people are not as stupid as you apparently think. Your motives are absolutely transparent.

You don't have a list of violent criminals recently out on early release. You don't have coverage of the status of violent criminals about to be released. You have no lists of felons. But you made public those law abiding people with a history of no felonies who chose to carry a handgun in accordance with the law? How backwards? How incredibly stupid? It is unbelievable.

There is no doubt that you have damaged the public you think you are protecting. You are no friend to good citizens.

And the people out there carrying a handgun you SHOULD be putting on a list cannot get a permit because they are criminals.

Sincerely,

Go to hell.

[ponycar17]

Oh, they have opened Pandora's 'other' box... The one that contains positive knowledge for society. This is going to be fun.

[delta13soultaker]

They have a public forum too...........

[Mjolnir]

Originally Posted by delta13soultaker

Law abiding citizens don't carry for fun. Nobody lugs a pound of steel in his/her waistband and spends money on clothes to cover it for kicks. They carry a weapon because some circumstance makes them feel their life or a loved one's is in danger.

Well said. After a few months of carrying I found myself slacking off because I was tired of carrying the weight all the time. I've had to start reminding myself why I carry when I get ready in the morning, when I think of the reason I feel stupid considering not carrying.

[Lori Mick]

Doesn't that list put all of those gun owners in fear of their own safety too? Criminals now have a list of where they can find weapons. While they might not take a chance of breaking in when someone is home, but an empty house owned by a gun owner will be a prime target.

This is just terrible of what they have done!

It's not right.

[ponycar17]

That's right Lori, these idiots have posted a list of households that have handguns, and they will likely aid in putting more firearms in the hands of thieves through this grievous act of privacy violation. They are idiots. Email them and tell them about it...

peck@commercialappeal.com

[armedandsafe]

On another forum, members have taken to publishing the private information of the owners, editors and management of that newspaper. Those folks who are now seeing their private information published on the internet are MOST upset. They cannot see the connection.

Pops

[RunningOnMT]

I want a list of everyone that has alcoholic beverages in their home. After all, we have a right to know who might be a drunk driver or worse yet might slaughter his neighbors in a drunken rage. It's a matter of public safety. In fact since we know booze kills, lets ban it completely.

[ponycar17]

Originally Posted by armedandsafe

On another forum, members have taken to publishing the private information of the owners, editors and management of that newspaper. Those folks who are now seeing their private information published on the internet are MOST upset. They cannot see the connection.

Pops

Oh, that's great. They deserve to be at least as paranoid as the gun owners they're 'outing'...

[glocknut]

My view on this can be summed up with ONE word...
Unforgivable!

I've been telling people that these liberals are dangerous, and by george...THEY ARE!!!!!

mike
gn

[noslolo]

Last summer they were trying to do the same thing in VA. I will have to check out if it happened or not.

[glocknut]

Originally Posted by noslolo

Last summer they were trying to do the same thing in VA. I will have to check out if it happened or not.

I almost expect that kind of stuff from an eastern state....but NOT Tennessee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

mike
gn

[noslolo]

VA has changed and not for the better!!! It was always a red state, but this last decade has seen some major changes.

[RonRdRcr]

Oregon has been doing this and the newspapers have been sending FOIA requests to get lists and the sheriffs are refusing to give out the info. There are a couple of sheriffs in court right now because they refuse to give lists to the public. I commend those guys.

Ron

[GojuBrian]

We need lists of people who have or are..

1. Alchohol in their home

2. STD's

3. Aids/HIV

4. Smoke cigs..

5. History of violence.

6. Voted for Obama

7. Child abuse or neglect.

8. Felons

9. Those with speeding tickets

10. Stupid liberals

[obxned]

One thing for sure - if you live in Tennessee and aren't on that list, it may be beause you are a pervert, wife beater, thief, murderer, kidnapper, drug dealer, or some other type of low-life. I suppose there could be some other reason to not make the list, but I don't know if I want to associate with those people until I know that reason they do not have a permit. You just can't be too careful!

[jjmitchell60]

Yhey were going to do that here in KY till our Legislature passed a bill making the names of CCW permit holders private just the same as people who are raped, people with HIV, and basically the bill states it is NO ONEs business who is a CCW permit holder.