State AG decides sun shouldn’t shine on gun list
Ah, irony…
As a commentor already mentioned below, Virginia Attorney General Bob McDonnell has advised the State Police to stop releasing the list of the state’s 135,000 concealed weapons permit holders, and the State Police says it will follow the recommendation.
Here’s the lead of Roanoke Times reporter Laurence Hammack’s story, which appeared on the paper’s front page today:
“An editorial writer’s botched attempt to highlight an open record — the list of Virginians licensed to carry a concealed handgun — resulted Friday in the record being closed.”
Pretty well sums it up, huh?
Read the whole story HERE.
This story isn’t over, of course. Next up will be legislative action to try to firm up rules about what is sensitive and what isn’t.
April 7, 2007 - 10:26 AM
Asked about Friday’s decision by the state police to restrict the information, newspaper President and Publisher Debbie Meade released a written statement.
“As a media company, it always concerns us when the availability of information is restricted,” Meade said. “However, we recognize and respect the rights of the Virginia State Police to exercise discretion in handling their responsibilities.”
How about repecting the rights of law-abiding citizens to handle THEIR responsiblities Debbie?
Talk about unintended consequences! Whoda thunk that by that irresponsible stunt, Christian Trejbal would be doing the public a service? I love it when liberals — you should excuse the expression — shoot themselves in the foot!
Here’s a rarity: Thank you Mr. Trejbal, thank you for shedding the light of “Sunshine Week” onto personal records that shouldn’t be released to the public.
I imagine this isn’t how you expected this to turn out, but that’s what happens when you don’t think things through.
Thanks again!
TJ
I think if Christian Trejbal had not essentially compared law-abiding chp holders to sex offenders and if he had not tried to pretend as if he had no degree of animosity towards gun owners when it was clear he did, the reaction would have been far different.
Brandon,
I doubt that. I for one, don’t want my name floating around in searchable databases telling criminals what I have or don’t have.
Trebal’s agenda was clear from the start, use the FOIA process to dig up relatively confidential information, throw mud in the eye of gun owners and hold up the 1st Amendment as a shield. I think if Trejbal worked for a larger paper, there would have been far MORE of an outcry, but nevertheless, he didn’t think things through and his plan backfired.
His plan for shedding light on open records instead reflected just how those records could be abused. I think it’s safe to say he didn’t think his actions would directly close down the CHP list to non-Law Enforcement Officers.
Thanks
Just because government regulates part of your life, which includes maintaining some sort of registration or data collection – that does not mean yours or my personal information belongs in the public domain. The Freedom of Information Act was intented to make public, the *government’s* business. I do not believe it was ever intended, nor should it be allowed, to exploit the privacy of the citizens. Not only do I want to see CHP information disappear from public view, but also DMV records, voting records, land sales and tax records, etc. Privacy belongs to the citizen – not the government.
TJ is right. He uses the 1st to attack the second.
Comparing gun owners to sex offenders shows what he thinks of us. And now the paper is trying to justify its position.
All of you who are still upset over that list of people with licenses to carry a gun..it’s gone..the State Police closed it completely and I’m glad. Now why doesn’t anyone protest the real estate records online for all to see? Talk about an invasion into your privacy. Your name, your address, what your house is assessed at, how much you paid for it, how many rooms it has, etc. In some cases, depending on where it is, they even put a picture of the house and land. I think this is definitely a matter that needs to be looked into. It really invades your privacy. Want to know what your doctor’s house looks like and is worth? Just look it up on the internet. Want to know what your friend has? Look it up. No problem, it’s there for you to see and you can see everything about them.
Harley,
You make some good points, but I need to correct you on the Concealed Handgun Permit list being off limits. The State Attorney General released an opinion that stated only Law Enforcement entities have access to the list and has ordered the State Police to stop, for now. There is NO exemption to the FOIA law for future incursions like the one Christian Trejbal published over a month ago. What needs to be done is add an exemption to the current 12.
Thank you,
TJ