Paranoia: the lady doth protest too much, methinks...

[SteveM]

We hear a lot from the gun-control/prohibition folks about "paranoia" on the part of gun-owners. But they may wish to take a closer look into that mirror, and see the real motivations for desiring to publish state lists of concealed-carry permit holders:

"There is freedom of information in a democracy. ... I would want to find out as a member of the public. What about someone who lives down the street? What about kids hanging out at other parents' houses? ... Do I want to be aware of that information? Definitely," Everett said.

http://www.collegiatetimes.com/stories/13394/kaine-bans-publication-of-concealed-carry-permit-holders

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Ladd Everett, of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, has indeed taken the dogged-pursuit-of-child-molesters approach to gun-control, and revealed more than a little paranoia in doing so. This, as the the Roanoke Times was offering up all manner of apologia for its publishing actions:

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(snip)

In response to a request for comment, Karenna Glover of the Roanoke Times forwarded a pre-written statement.

"The Roanoke Times admits it made some mistakes and apologizes for potentially putting some individuals at risk by publishing a database of concealed handgun permit holders," the statement said.

Also in the statement, Debbie Meade, president and publisher of the Roanoke Times, said they "did not give sufficient thought to the possibility that the safety of certain individuals on the list, like law enforcement officials and crime victims, could potentially be compromised."

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Now, tell us again about the Monsters on Maple Street?

[shadowrider]

1. Ha

"did not give sufficient thought to the possibility that the safety of certain individuals on the list, like law enforcement officials and crime victims, could potentially be compromised."

They forgot those who aren't on the list would be identified as easy targets. I would think they could be potentially compromised too.

[Euromutt]

4. In fairness, not possessing a CCW permit doesn't mean you don't own a gun

So it's not as if publishing a list of CCW permit holders necessarily reveals who doesn't own a firearm. By the best available estimates, something like 2-4% of eligible persons actually holds a CCW permit, whereas 35-50% of American households own one or more firearms, so there are lot of people who own guns but won't show up on lists of CCW permit holders.

[virginia mountainman]

2. Yea, I VIVIDLY remember that..

I was a subscriber to the Roanoke Times as well..

I went so ballistic, I nearly had a stroke when that paper came out, I called the paper (took me a while to get thru), and voiced my extreme displeasure, and pointed out that if ANY harm, or thefts occurred, they would be the first to be sued, for posting my home address in a nice, search able format.

I had just re-subscribed my paper, a few weeks before, and I not only canceled my subscription, I charged back my credit card to get the money back. And I left the rest of the papers, that where "in the pipeline" to pile up in the paper box....

I called every CCW'er I knew, and helped spread the word, everyone else blew their stack too....

Here is some news from the "incident"...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kUIPRFgRE8

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

3. Their paranoia knows no bounds.

[Euromutt]

5. "There is freedom of information in a democracy."

Yes, but that freedom of information pertains to the workings of government, to keep it answerable to the people over whom it has been granted power and who pay (via taxes) for its expenditures. It does give you the right to snoop into the affairs of private citizens.

"I would want to find out as a member of the public" whether, say, you're peddling drugs to local school kids, who might then resort to burglary (possibly of my house or car) to fund their new habit. But the fact that "I would want to find out" doesn't give me a right to intrude on your privacy by searching your home.

It's odd that the very people who rail against armed self-defense as "vigilantism" and assert that the government can be relied on to provide protection to the individual citizen are not willing to rely on the government when it comes to administering CCW permits, and demand the means to engage in what amounts to vigilantism when it comes to their own goals.