Late Blog Post
The Journal News in New York has recently gone to the extreme of hiring a private security company to protect them due to an outrage of an article which had earlier appeared in the newspaper. The article contained names and addresses of legal gun owners while advocating strict gun control. Countless angry emails and phone calls, the newspaper decided that its employees and establishment was unsafe.
Critics of the newspaper article sees it as an invasion of privacy and to be illegal. "The newspaper created the map of pistol owners in its coverage areas of Westchester and Rockland Counties (with Putnam County refusing its request) using information obtained under the Freedom of Information act, which states that public records, such as the identities of gun permit holders, are open to the public, unless restricted by statute." This story was written by Regina Wang.
I believe this is an invasion of privacy, the legal gun owners aren't the people who should be punished for the misuse of guns. Yet, they are as well as associations like the NRA, 4-H shooting sports.
http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/01/02/newspaper-hires-armed-security-guards-after-backlash-over-gun-owner-map/
That was definitely uncalled for and very invasive. Just because there are certain records that are available to the public doesn't mean that newspapers can or should broadcast these records. It could've put many of these gun owners in danger. And I don't think legal gun owners should be punished either. Most of the time, crimes that involved weapons are dont with illegal weapons or wby someone who does not have a gun license.
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