POLL: Should You Know Which Homes Have Guns?
An article-gone-viral by The Journal News in White Plains, NY has sparked debate about whether gun permits should be public records.
Do you want to know where lawful gun owners live in your neighborhood? Should this information not only be public but publicized?
Take our poll and leave a comment below.
"Overkill?" asks The Daily Beast, writing about the publication by The Journal News on Dec. 22 of gun permit holders across three counties in New York state. The database article on LoHud.com includes a map with dots for each household licensed to own a handgun—pistols and revolvers.
The map has gone viral, having been widely tweeted and liked on Facebook almost 28,000 times as of Dec. 26.
Record Gun Permit Applications in Hennepin County
You're unlikely to see the same kind of map for Minnetonka, Eden Prairie, Hennepin County or Minnesota. "In Minnesota, addresses of permit holders is private data and not available without a court order," explained Cmdr. Paul Sommer of the Anoka County Sheriff's Office by email Wednesday.
That's not to say there's not a lot of local activity. Last week in Eden Prairie, permits to purchase firearms were on the rise.
Minnesotans held 91,221 permits to carry guns as of Dec. 31, 2011, according to MinnPost.
Playdate Dilemma
Some parents, in the wake of the Newtown school shootings, have expressed their desire to know which homes their kids might be playing in have potentially lethal weapons in them.
One woman wrote on Tarrytown-Sleepy Hollow Patch’s Facebook page: “I just watched on the news: 38 percent of the people in America have a gun in their houses. Should we ask about this when our children go to a playdate?”
In Minneapolis earlier this month, a four-year-old boy shot and killed his two-year-old brother when they found a loaded gun hidden in a bed.
Privacy Violated?
This is the second time the newspaper and website has published database reporting on gun ownership. The release of the info online this year has some gun advocates worried for their safety and complaining of their privacy infringement, according to the Daily Beast.
The information was obtained by filing Freedom of Information requests.
The Journal News management stands behind its decision. "We knew publication of the database would be controversial, but we felt sharing as much information as we could about gun ownership in our area was important in the aftermath of the Newtown shootings," CynDee Royle, editor and vice president/news of The Journal News, said to the Daily Beast.
Other Maps, Data
Patch makes frequent use of interactive maps, to plot everything from traffic delays for commuters to holiday lights.
With other local data, such as who has made campaign donations, we've listed information without a map.
Do you think gun-permit-holders' information should be made public, and publicized? Take our poll.
joseph horrell
12:00 am on Thursday, December 27, 2012
How many more amendments is the goverment willing to break or violate this is how a dictatorship begins guns are not the dam problem it is the crazy insane wacked out person holding it that is the problem. You cant fix stupid!! I have owned several guns in the past and plan on owning more in the future. People need to understand that weather you ban guns or not the criminals and such will still have these weapons and we as free americans will be at their mercy!!! I think not
jdmunyer
12:09 am on Thursday, December 27, 2012
Gun ownership is between governmental and the owner...period.
Daryl Fryxell
1:31 pm on Thursday, December 27, 2012
Actually not. Gun ownership is a private matter and the government should not be keeping tabs on gun owners, nor should it be the arbiter of who can carry and who cannot. There is no such authority in the Constitution. On the contrary, it states that the right of the people to keep and bear arms SHALL NOT BE INFRINGED.
Collecting data is an infringement. So-called "registration" is an infringement. I hate to tell you this, but "registering" with the government simply tells them who has the guns when they decide to go house to house and take them away.
lovergurl69
2:20 am on Thursday, December 27, 2012
That's bull you might as well open your arms to burglars that will see who do or don't have guns! People that don't have guns might well post all what they have in there house on the internet because on twitter or Facebook they're putting their business if they're home or not and now they want to post on the internet who has a gun or not. That's not going to stop anything and i thought its a free country but the older i get we the people are getting more un free as the days go by!!!!
Political Mama
9:21 am on Thursday, December 27, 2012
In a free country citizens should not be compelled to publically state what they own. Period.
Daryl Fryxell
1:32 pm on Thursday, December 27, 2012
Right on, P.M. No infringement means just that: no infringement.
CIEP
10:05 am on Thursday, December 27, 2012
I believe it puts households without guns at increased risk to be victims of crimes. If a burglar wanted to rob a house, they would most likely pick one without a gun. Same for other crimes.
Benjamin Rosenfeld
11:33 am on Thursday, December 27, 2012
However, if they are looking to acquire a gun quick and easy, they'll target the home that's marked. Criminals aren't out there wanting to break into homes, but hesitant to do so, out of fear of guns. If they're going to break into a house, then they're going to break into a house. If I were a criminal, I'd do what I said in the first sentence. I'd go after the guns.
Becky Glander
10:51 pm on Thursday, December 27, 2012
Benjamin, excellent point. I hadn't thought of that.
Benjamin Rosenfeld
11:33 am on Thursday, December 27, 2012
No, it is none of my business.
Richie Himes
12:48 pm on Saturday, December 29, 2012
If a gun owner is OBEYING THE LAW as the people who are being treated as pariah for WHAT SOMEONE ELSE HAS DONE are being treated, then it's really no one's business. It's between the State that did the licensing and the owner.
When a news outlet decides to villify an innocent group of people and link them to a massacre that no decent individual doesn't feel pain over, they've overstepped their boundries.
Why not just go Minority Report on us and break out the Precogs so we can be prosecuted for future crimes?
When the access to this information is blocked, everyone can thank Gannet for their "public service".
http://www.nysenate.gov/press-release/breaking-news-senator-ball-issues-statement-journal-news-gun-permit-map-and-introduces
Johnny Funk
3:26 am on Tuesday, January 1, 2013
I can't imagine how anyone would think this is a good idea. A small subsection of the criminal population would target homes with guns, while others would burglarize the homes known not to contain firearms with lessened fear of deadly force being used against them. We'd might as well erect signs directing criminals to our unguarded valuables.
On the topic of burglars, if anyone is interested in the current methods employed by this generation of crumbsnatchers, the two most popular techniques in the Twin Cities are as follows:
To drive through residential areas in the morning, waiting for people to leave affluent homes. If they spot you pull out of your garage, they'll look to see if there's a second car inside. If not, they'll force open your rear door.
The second most common MO is another daytime operation, in which the burglars either pose as solicitors to see who is home, or they have a female pretending to be looking for someone knock on doors. Either way, the game is the same; they ring your bell to see if you're home and if not, poof... Say goodbye to your jewelry and small electronics.
Andrew Rothman
1:00 pm on Sunday, January 6, 2013
The number of carry permits in Minnesota is actually 114,774. The latest numbers are at www.madfi.org/permitcount.asp
JoJo
7:56 pm on Sunday, January 6, 2013
I can't imagine a criminal choosing to enter a home to steal supposed guns when chosing homes based on where conceal carry permit holders live. 1) risk of getting shot is REAL. 2) chance of finding a gun casually placed on the table or something? Almost none.
Kitzer
8:41 pm on Wednesday, March 27, 2013
I would rather see gun thieves break into a house that has guns and get shot, than have them break into a home without guns and killing everyone in there!!
PS - Don't bother replying - I have this site blocked!!
Craig
6:30 am on Monday, January 7, 2013
The 2nd Amendment allows for all Americans to have firearms. It is about the right of the people to overthrow a tyrannical government. It has no stipulations to the type of weapon, how many rounds it holds, what it looks like and how it fires. It is one of the most basic rights and THE right that gives power to the rest of the Constitution.
Kitzer
8:46 pm on Wednesday, March 27, 2013
SURE Craig!! Just how many 'tyrannical governments' are lurking at your door???
You obviouslly have at least ONE maniacal FEAR!!
BOO!!
Jeff K.
9:17 am on Monday, January 7, 2013
Is someone seriously proposing this? It's absolutely ridiculous. The federal government must stop its relentess intrusion into our lives. Gun ownership is a fundamental constitutional right and the only way that can change is through a constitutional amendment. Good luck with that one.
Becky Glander
9:26 am on Monday, January 7, 2013
Hi Jeff, no one is seriously proposing this. We just wanted to know what people think about it.
Kitzer
8:47 pm on Wednesday, March 27, 2013
State something other than your brainwashed opinion!!
jeffrey
5:42 pm on Tuesday, January 29, 2013
it is no ones busness.
Kitzer
8:49 pm on Wednesday, March 27, 2013
I want to know so I can AVOID being in one!!