I borrowed BobCav's letter and changed it around a bit to suit my tastes.
Mr. Mcwilliams,
This letter is in response to your recent article in the Iowa Press
Citizen titled "Who is allowed to carry a weapon?". I am outraged that
your paper has published not only the names, but the addresses of
Concealed Weapons Permit (CWP) holders.
There is no need or purpose gained by the wholesale publishing of the
list, and doing so was nothing more than a malicious, petty attempt to
strike out against lawful gun owners. By publishing this list, it has
endangered those CWP holders, some of whom may have them because they
are victims of violent crimes such as: rape, sexual abuse, or domestic
abuse and are in hiding from their assailants. The Supreme Court has
already upheld that the police are not responsible for the protection of
individual citizens, merely to enforce the law. This means essentially
that each citizen is responsible for their own safety.
Had you merely wanted to exercise your FOIA rights, you could have
listed only the names and permit data without including the addresses,
or other pertinent personal information. Since this did not happen, it
shows that the publication of this data is merely an act of spite and
malice toward legal gun owners.
I often hear the overused and misused statement from the press that
"people have a right to know" throughout the journalistic world on a
multitude of issues. While they indeed have do have that right, covered
by the First Amendment, that right should not be abused for petty
reasons, which seems to happen more often than not among "journalists".
The role of the Press in society is not now, nor has it ever been the
keeper, custodian or guardian of the People's rights. The role of the
Press is to keep a check on government, not admonish or publicly
endanger citizens of this fair republic. The use of that statement
"people have a right to know" is merely self-serving and used as a
cover. Nothing more.
If an individual or other entity expresses a desire or need to gain
access to a particular piece of information, for whatever reason, they
have legal means to use the FOIA system as necessary and as is their
right. But with that right comes responsibility. They must then be
responsible custodians of that information.
Just ask Christian Trejbal, an "editorialist" from the Roanoke Times if
he has learned anything from his publishing of the entire VA Concealed
Handgun Permit list in a searchable database on the newspaper's website.
Responsible journalism is nothing to be taken lightly. I hope that you
recognize the real harm that this "harmless" article may bring to
innocent citizens who have the right not to be victimized again, and
certainly not in the name of your paper's need to "get the story" or its
First Ammendment rights and will remove the data base immediately.
Thank you for taking the time to read my concerns, I await your
response.
Sincerely,
TJ Parmele
Alexandria, Virginia
