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It's a public record. The Journal News says neighbors have a right to know in case they feel insecure about living next to a gun owner. (Screen grab of the Journal News map)

Gun owners - outed in New York!

BY Dave Ross  on December 27, 2012 @ 7:36 am (Updated: 7:51 am - 12/27/12 )

There it is - on the website of the Journal News, which covers New York's Westchester, Putnam, and Rockland Counties. An interactive map with red dots, which you can click on to see the names of people with gun permits and where they live. Not the number and types of weapons, just that they have a permit.

It's a public record. The paper says neighbors have a right to know in case they feel insecure about living next to a gun owner.

I checked out a gun owner I know in Westchester, Sure enough - she has a permit. Which makes sense because I know her to be a law-abiding citizen.

That's the bottom line here - this is a map of law obeyers, not law breakers. Now - if I knew that a neighbor had guns, and saw there was NO red dot indicating a permit, that's what would worry me.

The newspaper's gotten flak from people worried that outing gun owners like this will just help bad guys steal guns. Maybe - if the bad guy could be sure the owner wasn't home. But it seems to me a crook would want to avoid the homes with the red dots, right?

As for how this might affect our current gun debate: When you look at the map of Westchester (where I grew up, by the way) and you see those 16,000 dots in just the one county - you realize gun confiscation is not going to happen. What you DO hope is that under the dot is a responsible gun owner who's been trained, who has a safe, and is in a good mood today.

Dave Ross, KIRO Radio Talk Show Host
Dave Ross is co-host of The Ross & Burbank Show on KIRO Radio (weekdays 9-Noon) and never too far from the spotlight.
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Comments (82)


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  • cdbtx wrote...
    What better way to increase violent crime
    December 27, 2012 7:12 am
    Why didn't they just order the citizens to post a sign in their yard saying "Rob me - There are guns in the house"

    Once again "Ideology" trumps inntelligence.

    Any idea Dave how many businesses in Washington "DO NOT POST" the business name as it's a red flag for robbery and security threats.

    At least there is the chance that the first robber that enters one of those premises will find the gun.. "Pointed at their head".

    Shall we also post online the names and addresses and treatments of all those that have been treated for mental illness?, or DUI? or Drug Convictions and or anything that we deem counter to a specific ideology?

    More signs of a VERY sick society...I'd certainly trust the gun owners much more than someone blinded by ideology.

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  • FormerMarineSgt wrote...
    @cdbtx...
    December 27, 2012 3:12 pm
    Here's what I don't get. People make claims that having guns makes them safer, less likely to suffer from a break in, more likely to be able to take care of themselves should they need to. But when this happens, the response is 'you just made us less safe'... I'd think that with the logic that these very gun owners use to support having the guns, that letting the 'bad guys' know that there are guns in this house would make the house less likely to be broken into - for fear of getting shot in the burglary attempt... The response is exactly the opposite of the logic they use to support having guns. It makes no sense. And yes, I'm a gun owner.
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  • Michigander wrote...
    @FormerMaringeSgt
    December 28, 2012 6:45 am
    The problem with your argument is that your discussion is based on all guns being used for home protection

    If you have a shotgun for hunting purposes, it really isn't intended for home protection. Having had my house broken into previously while I was not home, if my name showed up on this list I would be livid.

    Specifically, I would be having my lawyer drafting a letter to the paper stating they are directly responsible if my house is robbed in the future. They have now given the future thieves a list of what they know will be in the house, so at least it is a start.

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  • Ron_Spins wrote...
    The information age
    December 27, 2012 4:38 pm
    Get used to everyone dredging up any "public information" and splashing it on the media.Who knows how many of those "evil" gun owners "and carriers" are N.R.A Members.
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  • Stevebo wrote...
    I'm all for responsible gun control...
    December 27, 2012 7:26 am
    But I'm not sure how I feel about this "outing" of law abiding gun owners.

    The list makes it feel like a registry of sex offenders in the neighborhood... and Dave, your approach makes it feel the same in at least your initial wording.

    I'm not sure that a list like this is a way to go about things. After all, what does it accomplish in the end other than to create paranoia?

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  • JohnQEveryman wrote...
    Counterproductive
    December 27, 2012 11:59 am
    Given that 99.9% of crime is committed by those that ILLEGALLY acquired guns, all this map does is create a false sense of danger, while also creating an opportunity for savvy criminals to decipher which addresses do NOT own weapons legally. Why not just post addresses of people receiving welfare, since a vast majority of crime is committed by the poor? When will this knee-jerk, reactionary garbage end and when does lucid, pragmatic action begin? It's growing old.
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  • ron prevost wrote...
    Well, Dave. Let's see who can be demonized today.
    December 27, 2012 7:35 am
    Maybe people signing petitions ? - Oops, we've already done that one.

    Just one of the wonderful side benefits of gun registration by law abiding citizens. ... Let's see now. How do we get a map of gun possession by criminals who did NOT register?

    But I've checked the link to the Journal News map. Nicely designed so you can zoom in very close to see which homes have guns to steal. AND which home have no guns so you can steal everything else. ..... All that's missing is a few demographics on the gun owners. Certainly even if someone had a gun, were they 85 years old, it still might be an easy place to rob.

    Oh, and hey, Journal News. Could you please publish police patrol routes for the next 3 months? IDing the no gun areas is great, but thieves need to know about cops, too.

    HEY - while you're at it, Mr. Editor, could you publish your gate code for your house? I'm sure it must be recorded somewhere. And don't your readers have a right to know? - Especially if YOU have no guns?

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  • It's me! Ha ha! wrote...
    No concern for Gun owners safety.
    December 27, 2012 7:38 am
    Really no concern, whatsoever, for anyone's safety who does not support Obama.

    How about the Left trying to post all the names of us Americans who voted to keep government from making Homosexual unions recognized as Marriage by government?

    I am not so much worried about law breakers knowing who is armed. I am more worried about this regime knowing and coming for my rights!

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  • RichardCheese wrote...
    .
    December 27, 2012 7:38 am
    http://www.newrochelletalk.com/content/map-where-are-journal-news-employees-your-neighborhood
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  • irony wrote...
    i would like to know where all the fascious liberal journalists live
    December 27, 2012 11:03 am
    http://www.newrochelletalk.com/content/map-where-are-journal-news-employees-your-neighborhood
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  • DontTreadonUs wrote...
    I'm confused Dave:
    December 27, 2012 7:42 am
    "Now - if I knew that a neighbor had guns, and saw there was NO red dot indicating a permit, that's what would worry me." The number of law abiding citizens whom own firearms without your beloved Orwellian "red dot" far out number those that do. The red dots indicate those with CPL permits, not those that own firearms. "That neighbor" you are so scared of with no red dot could be a perfectly law abiding citizen who owns all of his or her firearms legally, but simply does not have a concealed carry permit. " ...and is in a good mood today. " Mood has nothing to with responsible firearm ownership. But I'm going to assume to know nothing about responsible firearms ownership, you just like to post BS blog posts about it.
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  • Sashadog wrote...
    Dave..
    December 27, 2012 7:46 am
    Why are you demonizing a perfectly legal activity? As a previous posters indicated, these people are following gun regulations to the letter of the law. And all this serves to do is target gunowners for gun theft, and target non owners for theft of everything else. How about some intelligent conversation on how to reduce societal violence instead of pitting people against each other? Eh Dave?
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  • kato1967 wrote...
    Dave Ross is a Fascist Jerk
    December 27, 2012 7:46 am
    As if any further proof of this fact were needed.
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  • irony wrote...
    i agree
    December 27, 2012 10:57 am
    wish i could write a song about it.
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  • DesertRez wrote...
    sickening
    December 27, 2012 7:52 am
    How far we are from the vision of our founding fathers. "Firearms are second only to the Constitution in importance; they are the peoples' liberty's teeth." - George Washington. I will never appologize for being a gun owner, and consider anti-gunners enemies of the very existence of the U.S, pencil-neck geek journalists included.
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  • Steve Dallas wrote...
    Why not...
    December 27, 2012 8:04 am
    Why not release the address' of all legally registered automobile owners. People kill with cars when they drunk drive, so the only sane thing to do is publish all the legal owners of cars to prevent drunk driving.
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