Posted on 03/13/2007 1:50:26 PM PDT by Agitate
Treating gun owners like sex offenders in the name of "sunshine" By Michelle Malkin · March 13, 2007 09:45 AM
Shame on the Roanoke Times.
Last Sunday, its columnist Christian Trejbal published an online database of registered concealed handgun permit holders in the New River Valley under the sanctimonious guise of "Sunshine Week:"
Today is the start of Sunshine Week, the annual week in which we reflect on the importance of open government and public records. To mark the occasion, I want to take you on an excursion into freedom of information land. We're going to find out who in the New River Valley has a concealed handgun permit. I can hear the shocked indignation of gun-toters already: It's nobody's business but mine if I want to pack heat.
Au contraire. Because the government handles the permitting, it is everyone's business.
There are good reasons the records are open to public scrutiny. People might like to know if their neighbors carry. Parents might like to know if a member of the car pool has a pistol in the glove box. Employers might like to know if employees are bringing weapons to the office.
And all Virginians have a stake in checking that their government is not making mistakes, for example, by issuing permits to convicted felons. Open records allow the media or any private citizen to check.
Trejbal denied that exposing concealed carry permit holders was "about being for or against guns." But he exposed his true agenda when he compared law-abiding gun owners to...sex offenders:
A state that eagerly puts sex offender data online complete with an interactive map could easily do the same with gun permits, but it does not...
(Excerpt) Read more at roanoke.com ...
Which is why, according to the Constitution, it shouldn't be.
Time to turn this around on the liberals and make them squeal:
Step 1: Demand every woman who wants an abortion first get a permit from the government to exercise that 'constitutional right'.
Step 2: Announce your plan to publish a list of all women from step #1.
They will fight both steps tooth and nail. They'll call you every name in the book for even daring to propose such a thing.
Nothing will piss off a liberal more than using their own tactics against them.
The "editorial writer" in question is a recent graduate of the University of Minnesota (!, lots in common with Virginia there) with a major in philosophy (another !). I thought editorial writers were supposed to have been around long enough to have gained some perspective and experience of the real world. Apparently not.
Somebody is completely missing the point of sunshine laws. Get meeting minutes from a closed-session meeting of a regulatory agency, get the itemized expense account of your state legislator, get something that shines the sun (hence the name) on the inner workings of the government!
To think such laws are about tracking your neighbor is sheer idiocy, and doing so is a gross misapplication of the law.
In this day and age, just "google" the reporter. Blog *ALL* of his/her personal information. Be sure to Email them with links. They'll huff and puff and threaten you, but "hey, it's public information. Right?"
Why don't we register homosexuals while we're at it? I want to know about every homosexual who might come in contact with me or my children.There's nothing wrong with finding out if your gay neighbor is packing something beside heat.I would feel a lot better knowing who is gay and who isn't.
The Roanoke Times Removes Database of Handgun Permit HoldersMarch 12, 2007 — The Roanoke Times has decided to remove the online database of registered concealed handgun permit holders from its website.
The newspaper is requesting the Virginia State Police, which provided the information, verify the data.
“When we posted the information, we had every reason to believe that the data the State Police had supplied would comply with the statutes. But people have notified us that the list includes names that should not have been released,” said Debbie Meade, president and publisher of The Roanoke Times. “Out of a sense of caution and concern for the public we have decided to take the database off of our website.”
The database was posted on roanoke.com on Sunday as part of a New River Valley editorial page column about open records. This column, as well as others that will be published this week, is part of a special focus on Sunshine Week, a national initiative to raise awareness about open government and freedom of information.
I wonder if the writer will publish a list of welfare and food stamp recipients in the name of "sunshine".
LOL...we just want reasonable regulations on abortion....abortion CONTROL, not a ban.....!
If they are going to release the addresses of gun owners, I think that they should be fair and do the same for reporters.
Here is a working link to Michelle Malkin's article:
http://michellemalkin.com/archives/007050.htm
Oops. They didn't release the addresses of gun owners. They released their names. It's still rotten.
The idea is this: if unknown good guys are carrying weapons, the bad guys won't readily know who is and who isn't packing. The deterrence: they'll be afraid to do violence to anyone.
This means that conceal and carry is fundamentally safer for everyone than simple carry is.
Plus, it doesn't make the unarmed sheeple as nervous.
Freep their Poll here:
http://www.roanoke.com/polls/pollsPage2.aspx?qId=291&totnum=1
Problem here is they confuse criminals and law abiding people. Perhaps there is a need to take vehicle plate numbers and ID people based on those plates at or driving up to abortion clinics. Then publish their names on the 'Net*. Plenty of "Sunshine" heading their way! Zipideedodah - guess I am getting carried away. * Their actions are illegal based on the "Neuremberg.com" case IMHO.
I think part of the problem is: Liberals can only see one move ahead at a time...
People are killed by guns. Guns are bad. Get rid of guns.
That's the extent of their ability to link.
Sorry that link above didn't work. Thanks for posting this one.
BTTT
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.