Do gun owners have a right to privacy about their guns?

[intrepidity]

(although most like showing them off anyway, whenever and however they can)

Are gun permits public info?

This article got me wondering if this might be an angle to get privacy rights noticed.

https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/personal-information-on-california-gun-owners-wrongly-made-public/

Personal information on California gun owners wrongly made public

SACRAMENTO — The California Department of Justice on Wednesday acknowledged the agency wrongly made public the personal information of perhaps hundreds of thousands of gun owners in up to six state-operated databases, a broader exposure than the agency initially disclosed a day earlier.

Rob Bonta, the Democrat who heads the agency and is running for reelection in November, said he was “deeply disturbed and angered” by the failure to protect the information his department is entrusted to keep. He ordered an investigation and promised to fix any problems.

“This unauthorized release of personal information is unacceptable and falls far short of my expectations for this department,” he said.
snip.

[at140]

1. NO!

What do they have to hide to require privacy?
Actually it could benefit them by scaring would be burglars entering their home.

[EX500rider]

2. Or tell burglars where to steal guns when no one is home nt

[at140]

5. From what I have heard, burglars avoid homes with barking dogs and guns

[haele]

6. Barking dogs, yes. Guns in the home...

They wait until no one is home and steal the guns along with anything else they find.
That's what most burglars do anyway. They don't want to deal with someone at home for the most part.

I've known more than a few gun owners that had those "owner is armed" signs or stickers get robbed when they were out of the house for some reason, like out drinking at night, or on vacation - and a lot of times, they were robbed by someone in the neighborhood or someone who had already been to the house previously as a contractor or worker, and had cased the place out as a likely target.
Local teens or young men are particularly suspect when there's a burglary.

Haele

[at140]

7. Thank you for that info

I will remove my "owner is armed" sign outside the house pronto.
My little Shitzu dog had excellent hearing and a loud bark.
Sadly she passed away last year at age 15.5 years.

[NickB79]

4. This data breach gives domestic violence abusers their victim's addresses

Women who've moved and applied for handgun permits for self defense now have that info public.

And you're OK with that 🤦

[former9thward]

8. Yes

Did you miss the words "wrongly made public" or "failure to protect the information his department is entrusted to keep"? That should answer the question.

[krispos42]

9. Nice broadbrush smear there.

It's easy and perhaps tempting to smear all gun owners as "loud and proud" red-hatted gun crazies arming up for either a civil war or the collapse of civilization, but please tamp it down a bit.

I have several guns and a concealed carry permit. On the occasion I decided to go out in public armed... it is with a CONCEALED pistol. Absent some sort of emergency situation, I would not even consider running around with an open-carry pistol or a long gun.

I don't think any government licensing database should just be open to people to browse through. The public should have access but it should be by having the inquiry specific, and by the person making the inquiry identified and logged.