NY Paper Helpfully Shows Criminals Where the Soft Targets Are

Or: “Respectable Newspaper Doxxes Thousands of Gun Owners.”

For the last few days I have joked that if a liberal really believes that guns don’t deter crime that they should hang a sign outside of their home declaring it to be a gun-free zone.  The joke being that they won’t do it, because they know that in truth the criminals' fear of being met with an armed homeowner keeps people safe.

Well, the New York state paper the Journal News has done the next best thing.  Ben Shapiro calls this intimidation towards gun owners, and that was probably the intent, but I suspect that won’t be the main effect of this breach of people’s privacy.  As Shapiro reports:

Today, the Journal News in upstate New York, owned by Gannett, published the names and addresses of all gun permit holders in the Westchester and Rockland county areas of New York....

The newspaper didn’t even feel it necessary to publish a rationale for that violation of privacy – publishing the names and addresses of gun owners makes them more vulnerable to robbery when they aren’t at home, since criminals will know where the guns are.

And it’s that last line where I respectfully disagree with Shapiro.  Let me show you the map, sort of:

The difference between this map and the real one is that the Journal News version is an interactive map, so if you go to their site and click on a dot with your mouse, you can get the name and address of the permit holder.  So an enterprising criminal could literally map out each street and know which houses are safe to break into, and which are not.  And if you go and read the article that all of this comes from, Shapiro is right: there is not the slightest attempt to justify this conduct.

But still, I do not believe that the main effect of publishing this map will be to intimidate those who lawfully own guns.  Instead, I suspect right now criminals are looking at these maps and saying, “I better rob people in the areas without dots.”

One final question.  If someone is robbed in these areas, and during the robbery they are murdered, and it is found that the murderers picked out the victim by consulting with the Journal News’ interactive map, is there any possibility of liability for the Journal News?  I admit I am not sure myself.  What is for certain is that this is grossly irresponsible.

Still if you don’t have a permit in New York, I suggest you get one and get armed, and maybe ask that their dot be added to this map.  Ordinarily those of us who own guns keep everyone safer because criminals never know what house might have a gun owner inside.  Well, now they know who is an easy mark: the Journal News has told them.  I am sure the defenseless residents of their communities will feel much safer as a result.

Incidentally, the comments section on the article is not pretty.  This is not going over well.

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My wife and I have lost our jobs due to the harassment of convicted terrorist Brett Kimberlin, including an attempt to get us killed and to frame me for a crime carrying a sentence of up to ten years.  I know that claim sounds fantastic, but if you read starting here, you will see absolute proof of these claims using documentary and video evidence.  If you would like to help in the fight to hold Mr. Kimberlin accountable, please hit the Blogger’s Defense Team button on the right.  And thank you.

Follow me at Twitter @aaronworthing, mostly for snark and site updates.  And you can purchase my book (or borrow it for free if you have Amazon Prime), Archangel: A Novel of Alternate, Recent History here.  And you can read a little more about my novel, here.

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Disclaimer:

I have accused some people, particularly Brett Kimberlin, of reprehensible conduct.  In some cases, the conduct is even criminal.  In all cases, the only justice I want is through the appropriate legal process—such as the criminal justice system.  I do not want to see vigilante violence against any person or any threat of such violence.  This kind of conduct is not only morally wrong, but it is counter-productive.

In the particular case of Brett Kimberlin, I do not want you to even contact him.  Do not call him.  Do not write him a letter.  Do not write him an email.  Do not text-message him.  Do not engage in any kind of directed communication.  I say this in part because under Maryland law, that can quickly become harassment and I don’t want that to happen to him.

And for that matter, don’t go on his property.  Don’t sneak around and try to photograph him.  Frankly try not to even be within his field of vision.  Your behavior could quickly cross the line into harassment in that way too (not to mention trespass and other concerns).

And do not contact his organizations, either.  And most of all, leave his family alone.

The only exception to all that is that if you are reporting on this, there is of course nothing wrong with contacting him for things like his official response to any stories you might report.  And even then if he tells you to stop contacting him, obey that request.  That this is a key element in making out a harassment claim under Maryland law—that a person asks you to stop and you refuse.

And let me say something else.  In my heart of hearts, I don’t believe that any person supporting me has done any of the above.  But if any of you have, stop it, and if you haven’t don’t start.