Ball Issues Statement on Journal News Gun Permit Map, Introduces Legislation to Prevent Future Acts of Idiocy

Brewster, N.Y. – 12/26/2012 – Today Senator Greg Ball (Patterson – R, C, I) called for the Journal News Newspaper, a Gannett Company, to immediately remove a map they have posted on their website that unethically reveals homeowners with pistol permits in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam Counties. The Journal News says that the information contained in the map was obtained by submitting Freedom of Information requests for the names and addresses of pistol permit holders by county. Senator Ball has now announced that he will introduce legislation in the New York State Senate, to prevent this from happening again.

“The asinine editors at the Journal News, have once again gone out of their way to place a virtual scarlet letter on law abiding firearm owners throughout the region. The immediate elimination of the information posted on the Journal News Website is the only way we can ensure the safety and liberty of these New Yorkers. This is clearly a violation of privacy, and needs to be corrected immediately. The same elitist egg heads who use their editorial page to coddle terrorists and criminals are now treating law abiding citizens like level three sexual predators. Am I surprised? No. Should every person with commonsense be offended? Yes. Furthermore, the Journal News has placed the lives of these folks at risk by creating a virtual shopping list for criminals and nut jobs,” said Ball. “Publishing this information on a website provides criminals with a map of where they can steal firearms from lawful owners for later use in the commission of crimes. Preventing the theft of guns and their criminal misuse is an important public-policy goal. This map is bad for the good guys and good for the bad guys.”

In the Assembly Ball multi-sponsored Assembly bill 820, legislation which would prohibit the public disclosure of information in an application for a pistol license with exceptions for prosecutors and police conducting an active investigation. Senator Ball will be introducing similar legislation, immediately. The bill would protect lawful gun owners from being targeted by thieves for firearm burglaries and eliminate a database criminals could use to extort their identity-theft victims.