Very well concealed [Newspaper Threatens to Publish Concealed Carry Permit Holders' Names and Info!]

Cleveland Plain Dealer ^ | 1/8/04 | Douglas Clifton

[TastyManatees]

Very well concealed

One of the longest and most contentious legislative debates in recent Ohio his tory has ended. Within the next 10 days, Ohioans can expect to be granted the right to secretly carry guns in public.

This represents social progress only to those who hunger to carry a weapon whenever they step outside of their homes, or those fatigued by an inane debate that has stalled action on far more important concerns.

From Our Advertiser

The measure authorizing concealed carry was sent Wednesday to Gov. Bob Taft, who promptly indicated that he would sign it. The law will make Ohio the 46th state to allow citizens to carry concealed weapons.

Taft's political journey to the point of signing the legislation is tinged with mystery. He once took the convenient position that he would sign such a bill only if each of the state's three major law-enforcement agencies supported it.

The Buckeye Sheriffs Association backs the bill, but the Fraternal Order of Police and the Ohio Highway Patrol Association have merely agreed not to oppose it. For reasons we find baffling, Taft has defined their neutrality as support.

More troubling yet is the compromise Taft struck with the legislature on public access to information about those who apply for con-weapons permits.

The bill passed yesterday rudely slams the door on the public. You as a member of the public will not be entitled to information on who is purchasing permits, even though this information is rightly yours: You will pay for the collection and storage of the data, as well as the salaries of those who do the work.

Journalists will be able to access permit information because of their profession. But you - as a doctor, lawyer or factory worker - won't be able to determine whether your neighbor or ex-husband has obtained a permit.

That sort of exclusion is neither fair nor rational public policy.

Since Taft chooses to hide behind journalists on this vital public-records matter, it is this newspaper's intention to obtain this information and publish it. Our readers deserve to know the identities of those who obtain permits to carry their guns in public. We hope other news organizations will do the same in their communities.

Taft and the legislature are demonstrating a flagrant disregard for the public's right to know. It is incumbent upon the news media to help right their wrong.

[TastyManatees]

I am not exaggerating when I say that this story is truly disturbing. The Cleveland Plain Dealer has just stated that it will publish the names and addresses of every person who avails themselves of Ohio's new concealed carry permit law and applies for such a permit.

The editors of the Plain Dealer explained thusly:

Journalists will be able to access permit information because of their profession. But you - as a doctor, lawyer or factory worker - won't be able to determine whether your neighbor or ex-husband has obtained a permit.

That sort of exclusion is neither fair nor rational public policy.

Since Taft chooses to hide behind journalists on this vital public-records matter, it is this newspaper's intention to obtain this information and publish it. Our readers deserve to know the identities of those who obtain permits to carry their guns in public. We hope other news organizations will do the same in their communities.

Taft and the legislature are demonstrating a flagrant disregard for the public's right to know. It is incumbent upon the news media to help right their wrong.

Permit-holders' names and addresses in print, because you have the "right to know".

I see.

Oddly enough, neither the Plain Dealers' owner, Don Newhouse, nor the editor responsible for the piece, Douglas Clifton, chose not to sign their names to their explicit threat against the citizens of Ohio. Nor did they choose to share their home addresses and telephone numbers with the public.

In the spirit of the public's "right to know", I will be happy to publish the owner's/editors' home addresses and phone numbers here and ensure their widespread distribution, should the newspaper ever follow through with the amazing threats they are making against the people of Ohio. In addition, should the newspaper force it on me, I will be happy to share information about Newhouse's other holdings, such as his stakes (and family stakes) in other businesses in your area that are dependent on the general public's good will.

Please take a moment and let Doug Clifton know how you feel about his threat against the citizens of the State of Ohio! Here is Doug Clifton's direct e-mail.

Tasty Manatees

[tractorman]

Makes for a nice little “do-not-burglarize” list for the bad guys in Ohio.
Before breaking in, just check the list.

[July 4th]

Yeah, it's not all bad.

[AmishDude]

These hypocrits would have a hissy fit if anyone even suggested that they reveal an "anonymous source".

[TastyManatees]

Bump.

[Puppage]

How about the names of people arrested for drunk driving? How about publishing names of woman who've has an abortion? What good could become of publishing the names of CCW holders?

This is nothing but harrasment by the press, plain & simple.

[RightWhale]

The main point to the permit is to avoid local regs such as: you may transport a firearm only unloaded in the trunk of the car, or it must be in the glovebox, or it must be on the seat, or it must not be visible, or it must be visible on the dashboard, or it must be in a locked box and the ammo must be in a different locked box, or on and on as you pass through different communities in the same state.

[Iron Eagle]

Perhaps we should publish the names, addresses, and other personal information of those that run the Cleveland Plain Dealer. After all, Ohoians have the right to know who controls the press, and who determines what news is fit to print.

[AdamSelene235]

. The Cleveland Plain Dealer has just stated that it will publish the names and addresses

This should become useful info for stalkers who have a hard time finding their old vicitms.

[TastyManatees]

In the spirit of the public's "right to know", I will be happy to publish the owner's/editors' home addresses and phone numbers here and ensure their widespread distribution, should the newspaper ever follow through with the amazing threats they are making against the people of Ohio. In addition, should the newspaper force it on me, I will be happy to share information about Newhouse's other holdings, such as his stakes (and family stakes) in other businesses in your area that are dependent on the general public's good will.

Please take a moment and let Doug Clifton know how you feel about his threat against the citizens of the State of Ohio! Here is Doug Clifton's direct e-mail.

Tasty Manatees

[BushisTheMan]

Well, in return the names and addresses and phone numbers of the journalists and editors, and owners of these newspapers could also be sent out in e-mails to everyone. Turnaround is fair play.

[Bikers4Bush]

That's exactly what we should do, and we should do it on the internet.

[Phantom Lord]

I do not really see what the big stink is. The issuing of a concealed carry permit is a matter of public recrod. The big paper here in NC, The News & Observer always has a section listing those who have been issued said permits and their home addresses.

Am I missing something here?

[tractorman]

I completely agree with you.
Another example of the law of unintended consequences.

[John Jorsett]

Cool. Now the home invasion robbers will know which houses to avoid.

On the other hand, I'd actually like to know this sort of info here in California, where only the favored are allowed to carry concealed. Our Senator Dianne Feinstein caused quite a ruckus a few years back when it came out that she, anti-gun advocate personified, had a permit. Actor Edward James Olmos is in the same category, having teed off Hispanic gangs and getting a permit to protect himself, even though he opposes it for the rest of us. So, I'd like to know the names of the other hypocrites who value their own lives and not those of us "little people."

[hopespringseternal]

Every place concealed carry has passed, the journalists have had this little hissy fit, and it has never amounted to anything. They just reveal the myth of their objectivity when they do it.

[DumpsterDiver]

Journalists will be able to access permit information because of their profession.

Is that even true? I thought that public records were open to the general public, not just to journalists.

[justshutupandtakeit]

Please Brer Fox don't throw me in that briar patch. Anything else just don't throw me in that briar patch.

What idiots.

[KarlInOhio]

Making this information public was the last roadblock which Taft tried to put in the way at the last minute. He hoped that CCW supporters would choke on it and refuse to support the final bill. Supporters decided they would rather have public CCW permits than no permits at all.

I hope Governor Blackwell will sign the bill to fix this in 2007.

[tdadams]

The way I see it, and apparently other do too, it's the people who don't have a gun permit who should be the most pissed off about this. Criminals will now have an easy, one-stop list of people not to mess with. If you're not on the list, you're an easy target to criminals.

Of course the myopic leftists at the Plain Dealer, like most leftists, are completely incapable of foreseeing secondary consequences.