Burglars Hit Home of Gun Owner ID’d by Newspaper

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The home of a gun owner, whose address was published by a New York newspaper, has been burglarized and a state lawmaker said it appears the burglars may have used the newspaper’s map to target the residence.

“Luckily the gun was locked up and no one was hurt,” Sen. Greg Ball said.

The residence in White Plains, was identified in an interactive map that identified the names and addresses individuals who have gun permits. It was published by The Journal News — a Gannett Co. newspaper.

The elderly homeowner, who legally owns weapons, was not at home at the time of the burglary.

“The police are doing a full investigation,” the unidentified man told NewsDay. Police said it appears the burglars targeted the homeowner’s gun safe.

The newspaper has come under intense national exposure after they published a list of residents who have gun permits.

Among the most vocal local opponents is Sen. Ball — who said the newspaper had put law-abiding citizens in danger.

“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. “If the connection is proven, this is further proof that these maps are not only an invasion of privacy but that they present a clear and present danger to law-abiding, private citizens.”

Ball is introducing legislation Monday to protect the names of New Yorkers who have legally obtained gun permits.

“Former convicts have already testified to the usefulness of the asinine Journal News ‘gun maps’ yet the reckless editors are evidently willing to roll the dice, gambling with the lives of innocent local homeowners,” Ball said.

The Affiliated Police Association of Westchester County said they plan to hold the newspaper accountable for any attacks on their residences of their 25,000 members.

Ball said the newspaper, whose parent company owns USA Today, is coddling terrorists.

“The same elitist eggheads who use their editorial page to coddle terrorists and criminals are now treating law abiding citizens like level three sexual predators,” he said. “This is not about the Second Amendment; these bills are simply about commonsense and personal privacy. Publishing this information on a website, as we have evidently just witnessed in the recent attempted gun burglary, provides criminals with a map of where they can steal firearms from lawful owners for later use in the commission of crimes.”

http://radio.foxnews.com/toddstarnes/top-stories/gun-owners-home-outed-by-newspaper-is-burglarized.html

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And I would have the best attorneys available sueing the balls of that paper ASAP.

In every man's life he will be allotted one good woman and one good dog. That's all you get, so appreciate them while the time you have with them lasts.

- RiggerLee

[kallend 2,027]

Funny, you guys are always preaching that having a gun in the home DETERS burglars.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

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She wasnt at home. How did you expect anything to be different. And to think people actually pay to listen to you talk.

[kallend 2,027]

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She wasnt at home. How did you expect anything to be different. And to think people actually pay to listen to you talk.

You do know that the information published in the newspaper is PUBLIC record and anyone (including burglars) can access it, right?

No, I doubt that you did know that.

...

The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

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I am well aware that datum is public record. However I dont see that many burglars in my area at the county clerks office researching the next place to hit. A vast majority of criminals are straight up stupid. This newspaper article just gives those stupid people easier access to that knowledge.

[popsjumper 2]

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Funny, you guys are always preaching that having a gun in the home DETERS burglars.

Well, John...obviously THIS gun was suffering from some sort of debilitating ailment and could not get up to defend.

My reality and yours are quite different.
I think we're all Bozos on this bus.
Falcon5232, SCS8170, SCSA353, POPS9398, DS239

[beowulf 1]

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Funny, you guys are always preaching that having a gun in the home DETERS burglars.

A gun in the home with owner present and behind said gun is a deterrent and you know that is what was meant. You are just presenting a straw man argument.

[quade 4]

Considering the number of addresses published, I don't find it particularly telling that one of them was burglarized. Or did you assume absolutely no gun owners were ever normally burglarized? That it was only non-gun owners who ever had their homes broken into?

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

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Oh I get it...because there was only one person burglarized...so far. That makes it ok for them to publicize the list.

[kallend 2,027]

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Oh I get it...because there was only one person burglarized...so far. That makes it ok for them to publicize the list.

The list was already public. Anyone can find it. Even burglars. Probably even you or rushmc.

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The only sure way to survive a canopy collision is not to have one.

[BillyVance 34]

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Funny, you guys are always preaching that having a gun in the home DETERS burglars.

A gun in the home with owner present and behind said gun is a deterrent and you know that is what was meant. You are just presenting a straw man argument.

And a gun at home is properly locked up when the owner is away. At least you hope that's the case.

"Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people." - SIX TIME National Champion coach Nick Saban

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Which was the case here. The lady was gone. The gun was locked in a safe...perps tried to pry it open and were unsuccessful...just like kallend trying to sway people to his side of the gun control argument.

[DocPop 1]

So thieves deliberately targeted the home of a gun owner?

That seems to kill the theory that guns are a deterrent. And if they're not then 90% of the pro-gun lobby's argument goes up in smoke.

"The ground does not care who you are. It will always be tougher than the human behind the controls."

~ CanuckInUSA

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Guess you should have read the article before coming out with that stupid statement. SHE WAS'NT HOME.

[Remster 30]

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Guess you should have read the article before coming out with that stupid statement. SHE WAS'NT HOME.

HER HOUSE WAS SILL TARGETED, and shouting makes it fact.

Remster

[billvon 2,991]

>Guess you should have read the article before coming out with that stupid
>statement. SHE WAS'NT HOME.

So conclusion - if, at times, you will not be home, don't let anyone know you have guns in your house, or it will make your house a target.

(Alternatively, put a "gun availability zone" sign in your yard if you want to help out the criminals . . . .)

[quade 4]

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>Guess you should have read the article before coming out with that stupid
>statement. SHE WAS'NT HOME.

So conclusion - if, at times, you will not be home, don't let anyone know you have guns in your house, or it will make your house a target.

(Alternatively, put a "gun availability zone" sign in your yard if you want to help out the criminals . . . .)

Oddly, that exactly what some people do.

https://www.google.com/search?q=home+protected+by+gun+sign

I guess they ought to be upset with themselves for outing them as gun owners.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

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Wake me up when you say something that adds value to this conversation.

[oldwomanc6 52]

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(Alternatively, put a "gun availability zone" sign in your yard if you want to help out the criminals . . . .)

Like this?

http://www.panamalaw.org/images/gun_yard_sign.jpg

lisa
WSCR 594
FB 1023
CBDB 9

[texascrw 1]

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So thieves deliberately targeted the home of a gun owner?

That seems to kill the theory that guns are a deterrent. And if they're not then 90% of the pro-gun lobby's argument goes up in smoke.

They are only a deterrent if someone is there to use them. A burglar is not afraid of the gun, he is afraid of the homeowner with the gun.

[Andy9o8 2]

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So thieves deliberately targeted the home of a gun owner?

That seems to kill the theory that guns are a deterrent. And if they're not then 90% of the pro-gun lobby's argument goes up in smoke.

They are only a deterrent if someone is there to use them. A burglar is not afraid of the gun, he is afraid of the homeowner with the gun.

That's only the case if the burglar is certain that nobody's home. If the burglar doesn't know whether someone is home, but knows that the homeowner owns a gun, then the potential deterrent does exist.

(For the record, I think it was a suck-ass thing for the paper to publish that info; and I agree it does invite either burglary and/or harrassment of lawful gun-owners. It places lawful gun owners at a comparative disadvantage, for there's no database of illegal gun owners to publish.)

[texascrw 1]

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She wasnt at home. How did you expect anything to be different. And to think people actually pay to listen to you talk.

You do know that the information published in the newspaper is PUBLIC record and anyone (including burglars) can access it, right?

No, I doubt that you did know that.

You do remember when the paper published the names that they stated they had obtained the information by filing under the Freedom Of Information Act. Which means that no one(including burglars) can just waltz into the courthouse and get the information. I doubt you will find too many criminals filing to get information at the courthouse.

No I doubt that you did know that, or managed to forget that fact.

And the gunowner did the correct thing by locking up their gun when they left the house. Other than what I plan to carry that day, I always make sure my guns are locked up before I leave the house. Always. And the police reported that it appeared the burglars targeted the gun safe, which logic would dictate they came for guns. I wonder how they knew there were guns there? We can probably be safe in thanking the irresponsible dickheads at the newspaper for that.

And a gun in the house is not a deterrent, a homeowner in the house with a gun is a deterrent. It is not a great leap of thought to imagine that the burglars knew their was a gun and waited until the homeowner left. Criminals, like most people, have a strong sense of self preservation and usually see the wisdom of waiting until a gunowner is gone before breaking into their house.

[Gravitymaster 0]

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So thieves deliberately targeted the home of a gun owner?

That seems to kill the theory that guns are a deterrent. And if they're not then 90% of the pro-gun lobby's argument goes up in smoke.

Yeah, what a lazy good for nothing gun. If it had been doing it's job, it would have leaped out of that safe and began firing at the burglars. Probably one of those hoity toity snub noses.

[rhaig 0]

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So conclusion - if, at times, you will not be home, don't let anyone know you have gunsvaluables in your house, or it will make your house a target.

--
Rob