This time it's in Shelby County, Ohio. According to this article a sheriff has given the names & addresses of concealed carry permit holders to a local paper & they published them!
Not only is this immoral, but it is in violation of Ohio law! The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep & Bear Arms (CCRKBA)is calling for criminal charges against the sheriff for releasing this information.
From CCRKBA's press release:
"Release of this information is not merely a gross invasion of privacy,' said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, 'it might also be a violation of the Ohio concealed carry statute. Under the law, only the name, county of residence and date of birth may be released by a sheriff to a bona fide journalist, and it requires a written request. There is no provision for releasing street addresses of licensees. Attorney General Petro should immediately launch a criminal investigation to determine if the law was violated, and then prosecute the violators."
Also of interest from the press release is the following:
"CCRKBA Executive Director Joe Waldron added, 'The Sidney Daily News is owned by Brown Publishing, the same newspaper chain that owns the Wilmington News-Journal. The editor of that newspaper, who was not licensed to carry, was charged with kidnapping a woman at gunpoint May 13. That embarrassing story got very little play in the press. Ohio newspapers must believe that it is acceptable to invade the privacy of honest gun owners while pretty much ignoring a serious crime allegedly committed by one of their own."
I didn't find the article in question on The Sidney Daily News website but it's likely it was only published in their print edition.
Here's the contact page for The Sidney Daily News staff.
Here's a few specific people on the Sidney Daily News staff.
Jeffrey Billiel
Publisher
(937)498-5962
jbilliel@sdnccg.com
Todd Frantz
Regional Advertising Director
(937)440-5252
tfrantz@brownpublishing.com
Melanie Speicher
News Editor
(937)498-5971
mspeicher@sdnccg.com
Rachel Supinger
Reporter
(937)498-5965
rsupinger@sdnccg.com
Laura Borchers
Reporter
(937)498-5976
lborchers@sdnccg.com
Thomas Barnett
Reporter
(937)498-5961
tbarnett@sdnccg.com
I have no idea which reporter authored the story, but I'll find out.
Here's the Shelby County (Ohio) Sheriff's Office webpage. To give you an idea of his view's on concealed carry click this link which takes you to the news release page of their site. The only thing in their is a notice that reserve deputy sheriff's are offering "conealed carry prohibited" signs to businesses.
Here's the contact page for the Shelby County Sheriff's Office.
Here's some selected contact info:
Shelby County Sheriff's Office
937-498-1111
Fax# 937-498-7845
e-mail: Info@ShelbyCountySheriff.com.
Sheriff Kevin O'Leary
937-498-7833
I'm (along with the invaluable help of a few unnamed friends) working on tracking down Sheriff O'Leary's home address along with the addresses of the staff of the Sidney Daily News who are responsible for the publishing of the CCW permit holders' addressess. I'll update this post as new info becomes available.
And why shouldn't it be published?
Frankly, it's bad enough such permits are issued without ascertaining whether the permit holders are competent with firearms.
Posted by: Jadegold at June 13, 2004 11:00 AMIt shouldn't be published because A: it's an imposition on the privacy of the permit holders, B: it can have a negative effect on the security of the permit holders (i.e. being singled out for non-confrontational burglary in order to steal weapons) C: it can have a negeative effect on those who do not have permits (i.e. targeting people with no permit for confrontational crimes) & D: it can have a chilling effect on those who would otherwise like to be able to legally defend themselves.
I'll agree that it's bad such permits are issued int he first place: it'd be much better to simply respect their Right to Arms as Alaska & Vermont do. No permit should be required to carry the means of self defense in any manner.
But despite my opposition to permits in general the paper acted inappropriately (if not illegally) in publishing the information of concealed carry permit holders.
& as to proving competency with firearms - if you wanted to require that in the same context as proficiency in math or english is required to pass certain grades in school, I might agree with you. But no conditions whatsoever should be preemptively placed upon the exercise of a Right. & no such requirements should exist for a permit to exercise a privilege that should be regarded as a Right.
All that aside, there is a marksmanship requirement with Ohio's CCW permit, as there is a safety requirement.
But I believe what you're really upset about is that people are issued permits to carry a weapon; the competency issue is merely the most convenient justification that you think should be uses to disqualify as many as possible from being allowed to carry. People like you are precisely why a Right shouldn't be subject to preemptive requirements. You'd abuse such a requirement solely because you feel people shouldn't excercise such a Right.
Luckily your reasoning is far from compelling to most people.
Posted by: Publicola at June 13, 2004 03:10 PMpost their names and I'll get you their home addresses - and more!!
Posted by: countertop at June 14, 2004 07:33 PM"Frankly, it's bad enough such permits are issued without ascertaining whether the permit holders are competent with firearms."
Ahh, Pub, I see you've collected another troll; unfortunately, this one seems no more talented than most I've seen here or elsewhere.
Kinda short on time -- be back atcha later when I can give it a bit more effort.
'Berg