Apparently some Memphis newspaper called the “Commercial Appeal” decided to go ahead and violate the privacy of around 200,000 Tennessee citizens by publishing a searchable database of all handgun carry permit holders in our great state. Apparently they did not learn from the Tennesseean’s experience doing this last time around…
Regardless, I went ahead and shot this email off to the paper’s president, vice-president of operations, vice-president of digital media, and all three editors (with appropriate changes for titles) – hey, when all else fails, dazzle them with overwhelming firepower.
Sir,
My name is [NAME], and I am a proud Tennessee resident and handgun carry permit holder. It has come to my attention that you, as the editor of Commercial Appeal, have decided to violate the privacy of hundreds of thousands of my fellow law-abiding Tennessee citizens, and I am at a complete loss as to why you would do such a thing.
I understand that the information you published is, unfortunately, public data, freely accessible to those who would be interested in it. However, the extent to which you published it goes far beyond the public’s specious “right to know”, and ventures far into the realms of personal intrusion, privacy violation, and possible endangerment.
I procured my handgun carry permit to more adequately defend myself and my family from those who would do me harm. As a rule, I do not make my possession of this permit public knowledge, not out of some misplaced sense of shame, but rather a continuation of my desire for safety, security, and privacy. unfortunately, your new database puts all handgun carry permit holders at risk, not only in their homes, but also on the streets. Handgun carry permit holders would only have the permit if they possessed an expensive item that would yield a high price on a streetcorner deal, or be of great use to a criminal looking to expand his rap sheet, and now, with the information you have so graciously provided to the criminal elements of Tennessee, those law-breakers know exactly where to find hardware to potentially steal. Furthermore, simply walking down the street turns into a concern, should a criminal happen to visually know someone on your database, and wish to relieve that person of his firearm, or “prove” himself to his buddies by standing up to the big, bad permit holder. Again, I simply cannot understand why you would make targets out of your fellow citizens.
Additionally, I do not at all understand why this database has been categorized under “Public Safety”, along with three databases of criminals and two databases of accidents. Handgun carry permit holders, by their very definition, are not criminals, they are not “accidents”, nor are they a risk to public safety, and the implications and insinuations generated by this assocation are distasteful to the extreme.
Due to public outcry, I understand that you have taken down the address portion of your database; however, simply using an individual’s first and last names, and the city in which they reside, it is a simple matter to procure their street address and phone number. By way of example, a weblogger has done just this with the entire managing staff of the Commercial Appeal: http://shotsacrossthebow.com/archives/003287.html.
As a law-abiding citizen, a handgun-carry permit holder, and a concerned husband, I request that you immediately take down the database of handgun carry permit holders before it is used as a tool against my fellow citizens. Furthermore, though far less importantly, I would like to request an explanation of why you decided this information should be made public in an easily-accessible, easily-searchable manner.
Please be advised – this letter, as well as any response you send, will be posted at my website. Additionally, this letter is not intended for publishing in your newspaper, and no permission is granted to republish any of it in digital, physical, or any other form.
Sincerely,
[NAME].
I will, of course, keep you appraised of any developments.
spreading the wealth | going to need a database of databases | guilt by association |
silence from the fourth estate
Unsurprisingly, there has been no response to my letter to the staff of the Commercial Appeal. I say “unsurprisingly” because I am quite certain I am not the only individual who contacted them. Blue Collar Muse left them all voicemails,…
fire with fire
Three days later, no response. Granted, they might be busy, but the database is still up and operational… just partially hidden behind pretty graphs and text. Time to level the playing field a little. This information has undoubtedly been reposted…
another attack on privacy
It seems as though the Commercial Appeal just cannot stop rationalizing away their “logic” for posting the searchable database of handgun carry permit holders… methinks they dost protest too much. Oh well, it gives me blogfodder, and lets me flex…
comment autocracy
To all those individuals who would like to leave comments at the Commercial Appeal concerning their invasion of private, law-abiding citizens’ privacy by publishing a database of handgun carry permit holders, and especially at their most recent editori…
commercial fisking
*headdesk* It seems as though the Commercial Appeal (and, more specifically, its editor – Chris Peck) cannot stop putting up half-assed rationalizations for their handgun carry permit holder database. Once more into the fisking breach I go. Misundersta…
Lawful Gun Owner Turns Tables on Liberal Rag
I love it! This is what happened when a leftwing Memphis newspaper decided to target people who value the rights protected by the 2nd Amendment. ‘Linoge’, a blogger at The Walls of the City, has a gun-carry permit, and opened fire:
Appa…
commercial update
In response to the public hue and cry concerning their privacy-invading database, the Commercial Appeal did not take it down… no… they went and updated it. Their numbers are slightly more believable this time around, claiming 219,245 entries as of…
call to calm
In regards to the privacy-invading database that the Commercial Appeal has put up on their webpage, a lot of things have been said by both sides of the debate; however, one thing came through very loud, and very clear -…
I found a similar database online listing all the Arkansas permits at arkansasgunpermits.com.
Well, it seems as though the proprietor was kind enough to leave his contact information on the webpage. Unfortunately, I am not familiar with Arkansas permit laws, so I do not know if the database is legal or not, but you can certainly question his invasion of other people’s privacy (and I would, were I you, and if I lived in Arkansas).
If he checks his email, that is.
push the hot button
Like I have said repeatedly, the staff of the Commercial Appeal have found a hot-button issue with their privacy-invading database of handgun carry permit holders, and, by God, they are going to pound the gos-se out of that button and…
once more into the breach (again)
Crap on a crutch… the staff of the Commercial Appeal just cannot keep their mouths shut: Martino Johnson, charged with second-degree murder in the shooting death of Terrelle Beasley this week after a minor traffic accident, held a Tennessee-issued pe…
proliferation
I find it somewhat ironic that the shortest month of the year is also my most prolific, and that it received the highest amount of traffic, ever, for my website. I guess I should thank the staff of the Commercial…
commercial appeal compilation
(I tried to make an independent, non-dated “page” containing this information, but I seem to have broken that aspect of my weblogging engine. I will strive to keep this page updated as best I can, so feel free to refer…
guilt by association
Do you want to know the best part about the Commercial Appeal’s privacy-invading database of handgun carry permit holders? Here we are, almost a month after this whole froofera hit the public scene, and the staff of the Commercial Appeal…
honesty is (apparently) overrated
Wow. I have to admit to being somewhat impressed. It would appear as though the Commercial Appeal somehow managed to go over a full week without putting up another hoplophobic, anti-rights editorial. At least it gives me something to write…
… and a side of hollow-points
Amazingly enough, HB0962 was approved by the Tennessee House of Representatives, and is currently headed to the Senate for their vote. Doubly-amazingly, it made it out of the house with almost no idiotic amendments being attached to it, with the…
sore losers
Just after Richard Locker does a fairly good job reporting on the facts, and just the facts, of the passage of HB0962, the editorial staff of the Commercial Appeal decides to go and counterbalance this attempt at honest journalism. Why…
two for the price of one
In an amazing double-victory, HB0962 (the bill to allow handgun carry permit holders to carry their firearms into restaurants that serve alcohol) made it out of committee with no restrictions on it, and HB0959 (the bill to keep handgun carry…