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The Journal

The Journal. Gun Rights and Privacy. Roadmap. Story Reasoning Means Publication Backlash Aftermath. The Story. The Story. December 23 rd 2012, interactive map posted of all pistol permit owners “The gun owner next door: What you don’t know about the weapons in your neighborhood”

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The Journal

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  1. The Journal Gun Rights and Privacy

  2. Roadmap • Story • Reasoning • Means • Publication • Backlash • Aftermath

  3. The Story

  4. The Story • December 23rd 2012, interactive map posted of all pistol permit owners • “The gun owner next door: What you don’t know about the weapons in your neighborhood” • Rockland and Westchester Counties • Putnam “could not immediately provide any data”

  5. The story • Every dot represents a permit • Each contained name and address • Rockland County • Historic and active permit holders

  6. The Reasoning • Sandy Hook, December 14th 2012 • "One of our roles is to report publicly available information on timely issues, even when unpopular. We knew publication of the database (as well as the accompanying article providing context) would be controversial, but we felt sharing information about gun permits in our area was important in the aftermath of the Newtown shootings.” – Janet Hasson

  7. The Reasoning • “I would love to know if someone next to me had guns. It makes me safer to know so I can deal with that,” said John Thompson, whose group counsels youths against gun violence. “I might not choose to live there.” • Neighborhood children • Strong community feelings about living near gun owners • “It sparked a conversation that needed to occur in this country, and it revealed tactics that will be employed when gun owners feel their rights are threatened.” Mary Dolan

  8. The Means • The Freedom of Information Act – 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson • “Provides that any person has a right, enforceable in court, to obtain access to federal agency records” • Penal law covering licensure now reads “the name and address of any person to whom an application for any license has been granted shall be a public record. • "We were surprised when we weren't able to obtain information on what kinds and how many weapons people in our market own.” • Is this an invasion of personal privacy? • Google interactive map

  9. The Backlash - Quotes • “You’re giving a shopping list to criminals.” - Tom King, president of the New York Rifle & Pistol Association • “Inmates in local prisons have approached guards to say they know their home addresses, Rockland County Sheriff Lou Falco told the news conference.” • “You have judges, policemen, retired policemen, FBI agents — they have permits. Once you allow the public to see where they live, that puts them in harm’s way.” – Rockland County Clerk • “This is the type of thing you do for sex offenders, not law-abiding gun owners” - commenter Curtis Maenza • “The records contained nothing on rifles, shotguns or the very assault-type weapons used at Sandy Hook.”

  10. The Backlash – Reader Response • “Calls and e-mails grew so threatening that the paper’s president and publisher, Janet Hasson, hired armed guards to monitor the newspaper’s headquarters in White Plains and its bureau in West Nyack, N.Y.” • Boycott • Personal Information about paper staff posted • Google map views • Phone numbers • Children and spouses • Many community members in support of the map

  11. The Backlash - LEgal • NY SAFE Act – New Legislation Passed • Banned assault weapons and high-capacity magazines • Allows owners to request their information be sealed • “Hassoncriticized the new rule as overly broad, but added in a letter that "we are not deaf to voices who have said that new rules should be set for gun permit data.”” • “We had correction officers who had been threatened by criminals that they were going to go after their families; victims of domestic violence whose stalkers and abusers are back after this information was exposed the day before Christmas; and also a rash of burglaries, so I’m glad that they woke up.” – Senator Greg Ball

  12. The Aftermath • January 12th burglary in White Plains • Two criminals aimed directly for the gun safe, could not open it • Information frozen on January 18th • “The database has been public for 27 days and we believe those who wanted to view it have done so already. As well, with the passage of time, the data will become outdated and inaccurate," Hasson. • A map snapshot kept up, “to remind the community that guns are a fact of life we should never forget.” • 17 out of 26 journalists have been fired, including the main editor

  13. The Aftermath • Putnam County Lawsuit • The Journal filing to compel Putnam county to release information • Refused two Freedom of Information Acts and an Appeal • “Discretion to deem whether information is going to put my citizens in harm’s way.” – County Clerk • “In other words, the legislature considered the purported concerns raised by Putnam, and determined that the public’s right to know the names and addresses of permit holders should continue to be public records except where such holder has invoked SAFE Act procedures to be exempted from disclosure.” - Lawsuit.

  14. References • http://geoawesomeness.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Gun-Map.jpg • http://cdn3.standard.net/sites/default/files/imagecache/max_800/2012/12/27/story-journal-news-white-plains-ny-172694.jpg • http://www.lohud.com/interactive/article/20121223/NEWS01/121221011/ • http://www.foia.gov/about.html • http://www.lohud.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012312230056&nclick_check=1 • http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/12/26/outrage-after-new-york-paper-posts-map-of-gun-owners-names-and-addresses/ • http://www.pbs.org/mediashift/2013/02/where-the-journal-news-went-wrong-in-mapping-gun-owners053/ • http://www.cnn.com/2012/12/25/us/new-york-gun-permit-map/ • http://janethasson.com/ • http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/07/nyregion/after-pinpointing-gun-owners-journal-news-is-a-target.html • http://articles.latimes.com/2013/jan/20/nation/la-na-nn-new-york-newspaper-gun-permits-map-offline-20130119 • http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/04/the-journal-news-putnam-county-pistol-permit-records_n_4043022.html • http://www.lohud.com/article/20131002/NEWS/310020106/ • http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/05/journal-news-gun-map-ny-politicians_n_2412655.html • http://www.theverge.com/2013/1/14/3874632/greg-ball-blames-journal-news-gun-map-for-burglary • http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/01/19/state-senator-removal-of-gun-owner-map-is-a-huge-win/ • http://www.wnd.com/2013/08/bang-editor-fired-after-publishing-gun-owner-map/

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