Ended up "outing" a woman who was hiding from her violent ex-husband.

Consequences aren't always what we intend.

I don't buy the argument.

If I feel the need to protect myself from Gun Owners, I would like to know who they are before I put myself in jeopardy.

I wasn't making one, I was remembering an unintended consequence of the last time somebody did this.

eom

And also, did no one tell her that her having a weapon was public information?

You can't have this thing both ways, you know...

Part of the world!

Gun ownership has consequences.

eom

have been made real public. Good for the newspaper

You would think the gun enthusiasts would want to publically brag about having guns at their residences like they do on the internet.

I would hope they also out gun dealers. Gun pushers lives need to be made miserable.

The real gun fanatics claim that the Second Amendment right to have a gun is supposed to permit them to defend themselves against an errant government.

But of course the government is the one entity that best knows and needs to know who has guns. If a gun is involved in a crime and is found, the government, the police, need to be able to trace the gun.

So gun-owners don't want privacy to keep the information that they own a gun from the government. That argument fails.

They also claim that they want privacy so that criminals won't steal their guns from them. But they could avoid having their guns stolen if they simply did not have them in the first place.

I can understand why a person living in the country in an isolated part of the US where the sheriff is slow to respond to calls for help needs a more powerful gun than just a hunting gun. But then making the fact that person has an arsenal public might be as important to that person's defense and the defense of his neighbors as having the gun in the first place.

There are arguments pro and con on this. But I would really like to know which of my neighbors have guns. I would like to know in case I want them to help me in some situation. I would like to know because if I don't like them, I want to know to stay away from them, not to park in front of their house, not to tell them to turn down their music if they have a drunken party on a Saturday night and I can't sleep. I want to know for my own protection. Because people with guns are a danger to me. And if you have a gun, you could be a danger to me. I deserve to know which of my neighbors might be a danger to me or my kids or grandkids.

If, in your paranoid world, you feel you need guns, that is your problem. If I know that you feel you need guns, you should at least give me enough information so that I can make my decision about how I deal with you.

Fair is fair, isn't it? You have your gun. I know you have it. We stay out of each other's hair.

He sets off bombs/fireworks, drinks a lot, and has load parties.
He bragged that he "told off the judge" last time he was in court on a firearms charge.

with young children likely to explore or get into trouble that they have a gun. That might be a way to get assistance to people or warn people without having your name published. I would not have any reason to know the name of a gunowner living across the city from me. But it would be good to know the names of those neighbors near my house who have guns.

If you really believe you have guns for protection, wouldn't you want to protect others?

since everyone that intends to commit a crime would now know which homes would be safe for them to do what they want.

And the gun owners would be happy because anyone trying anything would have second thoughts about doing it knowing there is someone with a gun in the home.

Ipso facto they have created two camps, one armed the other not. Those looking to steal guns will know where to look. When the owner's away the crooks can play whichever side of the street they prefer but if they are looking for guns their odds have just improved.

However if the burglar uses the information and wanders into a home with a pump shotgun it could be a fatal mistake.

and I don't think anyone would risk a life prison sentence to harm me where I live.

This is LEO only kind of data and be restricted accordingly. We restrict access to tax records as well, this is little different

... of citizens who signed a "recall Walker" petition. Their intent was malicious, and it worked. Numerous signers were hassled by pro-Walker thugs.

Did the NY paper disclose a reason for publishing the names of gun owners?

neighborhood might have guns. If I were a parent of a young kid, I wouldn't want him/her going to the house of a friend where a gun was present and I would inform their parents of my decision...

The purpose of the gun list was to protect people from the ones it identified. Two completely different motives.

The Wisconsin paper seems to have achieved its goal. The New York paper not as much.

First, there is no proof the individuals own firearms, and even then, it isn't anyone's business. These people are not criminals and this information was released to be misused. I saw several posts yesterday advocating firing people who are gun owners and shunning them from friendship. Both are proposed misuse of this information.

Might as well publicly release the names of Democrats in the South. By the logic of some here it obviously wouldn't be misused...

You don't have to be a gun owner to have a license to carry a concealed weapon. It's not against the law to own a gun. If you live in rural Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, and I'm sure in most states rural areas, you don't have a police force. You MIGHT have a sheriff, or a constable who covers a sizable area. It could take hours for them to respond to a call. Seriously, those of you who rail against owning guns for ones own protection....you really DON'T have a clue obviously. Just my opinion. The extremist Tea Partyers of the left are as much of a detriment to the Democratic party as the the Tea Party has been to the Republican party. I do not think a majority of Americans seriously support a total gun ban, or repealing the 2nd Amendment. I'm a lifelong Democrat. I do not.

Could the dangerous person be liable for hurting property values by making your street more dangerous and thus less desirable? Time for a lawsuit.

Just because he/she owns a dangerous item, that doesn't make the owner dangerous.

Nothing wrong with a family on our quiet street owning a gun. It doesn't worry me at all.

and not registered, I'm sure.

With all the stolen guns in America, this is like an open invitation to criminals looking for a friday night special. Once the home owners leaves for work, the criminals break in to steal the guns. I don't agree with advertising what a homeowner might have in his/her home.

We had a burglary. The only thing that was stolen was an old gun we had and never used.

I'm glad it is gone. The police found it later. We did not bother to get it back.

We bought it during the 1992 riots in LA. Never needed it. We have good neighbors. Worth far more than an arsenal of guns.

My husband owns about eight or nine long guns and three handguns. All the rifles and shotguns and two handguns have been in his locked gun cabinet and not fired for about 30 years. He takes one handgun that he recently purchased with him when he goes out on the ATV for his own protection. There's a coyote den not far from the back of our property and bears are sighted regularly in this rural area. I don't think he cares if the public knows he owns these guns because most of our neighbors own guns too.

Freedom isn't free, right? Isn't that what you gunners are always saying?...

_ _|_,

With guns!

I had some creepy neighbors once and my kid was over there on occasion to play with their boys. When I found out they had guns...my son was never in there house again.

Did they know why your son no longer came to visit?

I blew a gasket when I found out.
I was glad to see them move.

Car registration info is fairly difficult to get because of the Driver Privacy Protection Act.
If there is no need to know, it's not generally available and that's as it should be.

Legal hand gun ownership should be the same.
If there is a crime and the owner's weapon is suspected of being involved the info should be made available.
Maybe even if your child visits someone's house you should be able to find out if he possesses guns or not because you may not want a child playing in a house that has guns available.

But the info should not be made available en masse to just anyone.

And I hope that it sparks new protections to make these records more private, as with car registration.

maintained in Albany by the State Police since 1936.