Buffalo News trying to publish pistol permit holders

I guess I should start putting together a list of all their names/addresses/twitter/facebook/phone numbers

Thanks! emailed

Definitely. Like I said, the Michael Connelly on Treehaven probably isn’t the one we’re looking for.

Here is some background on the editor, I will keep digging…

Staff report
Published: Tuesday, September 18, 2012 at 1:24 p.m.
Last Modified: Tuesday, September 18, 2012 at 1:24 p.m.

SARASOTA - Herald-Tribune executive editor Mike Connelly is leaving the newspaper to lead the newsroom at The Buffalo News in New York.

Connelly, 55, has been with the Herald-Tribune since 2004, and will take his new position in October.

The larger Buffalo News is owned by billionaire investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., which in May bought the newspaper division of Media General, excluding the Tampa Tribune.

Halifax Media, the owner of 38 daily newspapers including the Herald-Tribune, has yet to name a successor.

During Connelly’s tenure, Herald-Tribune reporter Paige St. John won the Pulitzer Prize for investigative journalism for her series on Florida’s insurance industry. Before that, the newspaper was twice a finalist for the prize.

Connelly started his career in 1981 at The Wall Street Journal, working in New York, Miami and Chicago. He has also worked at the St. Paul Pioneer Press, The Baltimore Sun and Congressional Quarterly in Washington, D.C., where he was in charge of operations, then product development. He is on the board of the Florida First Amendment Foundation and the Florida Society of News Editors.

He is a native of Iowa and a graduate of the University of Iowa.

From what was signed yesterday it looks like nothing is going to happen on the Buffalo News request for at least 120 days.

On the county level, clerks will oversee the opt-out option on license applications – which includes options for law enforcement officials, victims of domestic violence, people who had served on a grand jury and those who fear for their safety or are concerned about harassment. For the first 120 days of the new law, no information on gun licenses would be available; then the opt-out provision would take effect. People who already have licenses would be allowed to go back to the county clerks and fill out a form to opt out.

Source:
http://www.wgrz.com/news/article/196453/37/New-Gun-Law-Allows-Public-Records-to-be-Private

So if you’re a permit holder I’d suggest calling the Erie County Pistol Permit office every day asking if the form to opt out is available yet. They can be reached here:
716-858-6600

I clean my guns on the front deck. I think my neighbors know.

Yeah, one of my neighbors was a reference on my application. I couldn’t care less about my neighbors knowing. It’s the thought of a criminal knowing and possibly going to my house looking for a gun when I’m not there but my family is that scares me.

Interesting what if they already submitted the request before this new law?

If the law was able to ban pre-ban mags it better be able to ban pre-law requests. If not we could always set the building on fire.

Is it still two references in the same town?

Three, and depending on the town you may be able to get away with 3 in Erie County. Don’t know for Niagara County.

If anyone can confirm this i will be canceling my subscription immediately

Mooboost…

Suck my cock.

This is the response my friend just got after spamming everyone at the Buffalo News…

XXXX,:

Thanks for writing.

Asking for information is not the same as publishing information. Sometimes we create databases based on public records for use at a future time for a reason we don’t event know yet.

For example, we have a database that lists the assessed value of every property in Erie and Niagara counties. Let’s say a community is going through a property revaluation and we want to know what the existing assessments are. That database could prove invaluable. But we would not just publish the assessed value of every property simply because we have the information.

Similarly, we have no intention of publishing the names and addresses of every gun permit holder in Erie County.

Don’t believe everything you hear on the radio.

Bruce Andriatch
Suburban Editor/Columnist
The Buffalo News
(716) 849-4136

I don’t believe them, nor do I believe they should be granted access to this information regardless of their intended use.

Have him email them back asking if they squirt.

Tempted to email them asking if they mind if we collect their information till we find it necessary to release it.

This was his reply.

Bruce,

I appreciate your quick response and I can honestly tell you that I never believe everything I hear on the radio, read in the paper, or watch on TV. However, it does raise some curious points as to the timing of the request, since the “law” just was signed and permit holders have not had a chance to request their information as ‘Private’. Let me ask you this, when was the last time that you requested this information on permit holders? And what is the exact intended use of this information? Is this information going to be kept secured with limited persons being able to access it and even copy it? This is all information that should be obtained

What really disturbs me about your response is two things. First, you give an example about assessed property values, yet nobody has ever had their house stolen and used in a crime as far as I know. If you would like to obtain the information for a story, why not request it when you HAVE a story to work on? Why is it so critical to obtain this information now instead of when needed? And second, the reason that was given out was to identify whether or not a legal or illegal weapon was used in a crime. Is that the reason, or is it just another excuse to cover up the invasion of privacy that you are seeking?

And one last point, while we are on the subject of invasion of privacy, is about the mandatory use of pedometers in schools. I, of course, read nothing about it on BN, but the premise is that it is mandatory at one or two schools but students / parents can opt out at others. All this information collected is then sent to the Federal government and stored in their databases. What is to stop BN, another news agency, or anyone else from filing a FOIA request to obtain this personal and private information? Where does it end and who can we reasonably trust to use this very personal information?

Sincerely,
XXXXXXXX

Motocross… I think you mean suck your glock… baaazzzinngggg!

Block me and go fuck yourself with whatever you choose to wield if you dont like it fggt.

To play a little devils advocate, having the list allows them to compile data on gun ownership for publication shortly after an event. They could use the statistics on gun ownership and correlate it to crime statistics in an area, etc. Requesting it after an event would mean that they wouldn’t have relevant, timely data, to use in a story.

I assume Erie County would issue stats on permits.

No need to have the name/address of every gun owner.