May 2, 2013
Here's the latest abuse and invasion of privacy related to misusing firearms registration data.
In the first 4 months of this year, we had at least the following incidents:
1) A New York newspaper published an interactive map with the names and addresses of gun license holders in 2 counties on their website.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/12/25/new-york-journal-news-gun-owners-westchester-rockland-counties_n_2362530.html
2) California raided a home and confiscated a man's lawfully owned firearms because his wife had voluntarily sought help for depression several months prior. There was no due process - search warrant of adjudication by a court.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/03/12/calif-gun-owner-who-says-she-admitted-herself-to-mental-hospital-for-medication-adjustment-has-guns-confiscated/#
3) A New York man's lawfully owned firearms were confiscated in a case of mistaken identity. Someone with a similar name had had a prescription for a psychological condition. Under New York's newly passed "Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement (SAFE) Act" the man's name was reported to the state police resulting in the man having to turn in his guns. Sorry for rescinding your 2nd Amendment rights - wrong guy.
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2013/04/09/a-form-of-gun-confiscation-has-reportedly-begun-in-new-york-state-heres-the-justification-being-used/
4) Missouri Highway Patrol gave federal officials their entire database of 163,000 names of concealed carry license holders when the inquiry was for "potential fraud involving Social Security benefits". The article doesn't explain how those things are related. It also doesn't explain why MHP handed over all the names instead of the names of individuals being investigated. It does say in the article that the information was provided TWICE - but that it was never used because the federal authorities couldn't get through the disc's encryption. (That's a whole other issue it'd be worth criticizing.) But it doesn't matter that it wasn't used. It should never have been provided so easily.
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/04/12/missouri-highway-patrol-gave-feds-list-concealed-gun-holders/
And people wonder why gun rights advocates don't want firearms registration. I know I've been told that police officers can be disciplined for looking up automobile license data without due cause. It's made the news a few times where officers have abused that access and lost their jobs, I believe. Here we have data being exposed and publicized by the tens of thousands and gun control advocates only want more potential for abuses that are already occurring.
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May 16, 2013
Missouri lawmakers hope to improve privacy of its citizens and avoid another incident like what occurred recently when all concealed carry permit holders' names were provided in database form for a social security investigation.
The state had recently begun scanning personal documents such as birth certificates and concealed carry permits into a database.
http://www.kansascity.com/2013/05/15/4237931/missouri-lawmakers-pass-bill-halting.html
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July 9, 2013
Can we trust the New York newspaper, The Journal News, with our private firearms ownership data? If you followed the events of the past several months then you know the answer is OBVIOUSLY NOT!
This is the newspaper who used a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to gather personal data of registered firearms owners in two New York counties and then compiled and published the information in an interactive map much to the OUTRAGE of gun owners. The map was eventually taken down. I'm not aware of any apology. I did see video footage of someone going to the home of a Journal News decision maker (publisher? editor?) to attempt an on camera interview who was turned away by a (armed?) security guard posted on the property. An ironic and hypocritical measure for a newspaper pushing gun control, don't you think? (The video embedded in this article is different than the one I'm referring to.)
The Journal News is back making headlines, instead of printing them, because of its latest FOIA request - for more gun ownership information. "the paper said it plans to produce a static map using new information to show how the distribution of pistol permits has changed since the paper published its map in December"
Some of the kinds of information they requested late last year are no longer available to them but some still is. Do they really want to knock on that door again? They must like having that private security guard around their home(s).
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/07/03/foiaed-again-gun-map-newspaper-seeks-more-info-on-firearms-owners/
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August 20, 2013
Chief Editor Caryn McBride, who was responsible for publishing private information of gun owners of two New York counties in an interactive map on the Journal News website earlier this year, has lost her job along with dozens of others. The layoff is not related to the outrageous disclosure of private information. Gun owners will probably grieve over the lack of cause and effect but celebrate her fall nonetheless.
I wonder if the Journal News will still pay for the security she hired for her house after endangering gun owners by wrongfully publishing their private information.
http://www.rocklandtimes.com/2013/08/07/janet-hasson-fires-caryn-mcbride/
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