- Two addresses that appear on map of legally owned guns published by Journal News on December 23 have been burglarized in last week
- Guns, permits and valuables stolen from home in New City, New York, on Wednesday
- Thieves broke into house and attempted to steal guns in White Plains, New York, on Saturday
By
Daily Mail Reporter
23:54 GMT, 17 January 2013
|
23:54 GMT, 17 January 2013
Thieves ransacked a house that features on the gun map published by the Journal News, just days after another home on the list was also targeted.
Burglars broke into the house in New City, New York, on Wednesday and pried open two safes, before leaving with another one.
The criminals escaped with two handguns, two pistol permits, cash, savings bonds and jewelry. The firearms were in the stolen safe.
Deliberately targeted? Burglars stole two handguns at a second home that featured on the controversial gun map published in December
Burglars also broke into a house in White Plains, New York, on Saturday and headed straight for the gun safe.
The thieves struck at this house just
three weeks after the names and addresses of legal firearms permit
holders were published on the controversial gun map published by the
Journal News.
The paper caused a stir on December 23 when it listed thousands of permit holders in suburban Westchester and Rockland counties just
north of New York City in an interactive map.
The break-in at Britta Lane, New City, was reported at 9.45 pm on Wednesday evening. Clarkstown Police stated that they currently have no evidence of a link between the burglary and the gun map.
Police believe that the break-in was a ‘random crime’ but others aren’t so sure
Clarkstown Sgt. Joanne Fratianni said in a statement reported by Newsday.com:
‘The burglary is still under investigation, and there are no facts to
support this correlation at this time. If the investigation develops
further information, it will be released accordingly.’
The
thieves broke into two safes on the home’s third floor and removed a
third safe from the basement, that contained a .45 caliber Colt and a
.22 caliber Iver Johnson.
They
also stole pistol permits from Rockland and Orange counties, and other
valuables. The home owners have refused to comment publicly.
While police believe this was a ‘random crime’, others are not so sure, and many are speculating that
the map is now being used by criminals for targeted gun theft
This home in White Plains, New York, is also listed on the controversial gun map and was broken into on Saturday
During the burglary in White Plains at the weekend, the thieves headed for the safe where the homeowner, a man in his 70s, stores his legally owned guns according to Newsday.
The intruders abandoned their attempts when they couldn’t crack the safe, and police confirmed that one suspect has been taken into custody.
The home owner also declined to comment in this case but a New York state senator blasted the gun map after this incident.
Republican Senator Greg Ball has
proposed legislation that restricts gun permit information to law
enforcement authorities and he strongly criticized the Journal News.
‘No comment’: The White Plains homeowner told News12 he had nothing to add while police continued investigations into the burglary
‘It is reported that the burglar used the Journal News’ interactive gun map to target a home included on the map,’ Ball said.
‘The Journal News has placed the lives of these folks at risk by creating a virtual shopping list for criminals and nut jobs.
‘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.
‘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,’
the senator continued.
‘Criminal’s shopping list?’ Both homes are featured on the map that lists the names and addresses of legal gun owners
The New York newspaper reportedly hired a team of armed guards to patrol the paper’s headquarters in West Nyack after publishing the names and addresses of nearby
gun permit owners.
Along with an article entitled ‘The
gun owner next door: What you don’t know about the weapons in your
neighborhood,’ the Journal News map was compiled in response to the December 14
shooting deaths of 20 children and six adults in Newtown, Connecticut,
editors of the Gannett Corp.-owned newspaper said.
The publication prompted outrage, particularly on social media sites, among gun owners.
‘Do you fools realize that you also
made a map for criminals to use to find homes to rob that have no guns
in them to protect themselves?’ Rob Seubert of Silver Spring, Maryland,
posted on the newspaper’s web site. ‘What a bunch of liberal boobs you
all are.’
‘Reckless’: A New York State Senator blasted the Journal News for their controversial gun map
The newspaper’s editor and vice
president of news, CynDee Royle, defended the
decision to list the permit holders.
‘We knew publication of the database
would be controversial, but we felt sharing as much information as we
could about gun ownership in our area was important in the aftermath of
the Newtown shootings,’ she said.
Some critics retaliated by posting reporters’ and editors’ addresses and other personal information online.
Howard Good, a journalism professor
at the State University of New York at New Paltz, called the critics’
response childish and petulant.
‘It
doesn’t move the issue of gun
control to the level of intelligent public discussion,’ he said.
‘Instead, it transforms what should be a rational public debate on a
contentious issue into ugly gutter fighting.’
Calling for change: The paper said that they produced the map because in the wake of the Newtown shooting many people wanted to know who had legal guns in their neighborhood, and there were protests across the country (pictured).
Good said the information about permit holders was public and, if presented in context, served a legitimate interest.
But media critic Al Tompkins of the
Florida-based Poynter Institute wrote online this week that the
newspaper’s reporting had not gone far enough to justify the permit
holders’ loss of privacy.
‘If journalists could show flaws in
the gun permitting system, that would be newsworthy,’ he said. ‘Or, for
example, if gun owners were exempted from permits because of political
connections, then journalists could better justify the privacy
invasion.’
Tompkins said he feared the dispute might prompt lawmakers to play to privacy fears.
‘The net effect of the abuse of public
records from all sides may well be a public distaste for opening
records, which would be the biggest mistake of all,’ he said.
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Progressive is another word for communists!
Gretathegreek
,
Jonestown,
18/1/2013 03:17
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The paper should be charged with aiding a felony ! They gave information out that was used to commit a crime and no other way this could of happened if the information was not published ! We will never klnow but we do know once the info. was published the crime s were commited, So Yes they aided in the crime and should be held to the highest standard of punishment.
Robyte
,
Opelika,
18/1/2013 03:17
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If there is no link between these crimes and the story, I have a great deal on some fine Tampa Bay real estate. I’m just wondering how long it is going to be before someone gets killed because of this pathetic stunt by a soon to be defunct newspaper?
SwampFox
,
Palmetto_FL,
18/1/2013 03:10
Report abuse
Government, at all levels, is signally its belief that total collapse is on the horizon. When that happens, they want the only weapons to be theirs. This has nothing to do with Sandy Hook or any other person or incident. It has everything to do with our government telling us subtly that a major upheaval in society is imminent.
LWGII
,
Baltimore,
18/1/2013 02:59
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Senator Barack Obama, Virginia, 2008 campaign stop: “When you all go home and you’re talking to your buddies and you say, ah ‘He wants to take my gun away.’ You’ve heard it here, I’m on television so everybody knows it. I believe in the Second Amendment. I believe in people’s lawful right to bear arms. I will not take your shotgun away. I will not take your rifle away. I won’t take your handgun away”
RightWingDad
,
usa,
18/1/2013 02:35
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McIver3 , San Diego;…”A class action lawsuit is needed. Successfully suing the publisher would put a chill on who gets the same bright idea of publishing addresses of gun owners.”…And what would be the basis of your lawsuit? That the first amendment should be thrown out and newspapers prohibited from publishing public records? Good luck with finding a judge to hear that case…Captain America , Mississippi;..If “liberal” is not a pejorative but rather a more advanced mindset, then perhaps you can explain why liberals now shun the term”…Certain radio clowns TRIED to turn it into a pejorative term. I don’t think it worked. I have NEVER been ashamed of calling myself liberal. If you look the terms up. conservative means resistant to change, and liberal means open minded. We live in a rapidly changing world. Most conservatives are ill educated and the rate of technology frightens them severely. Liberals engage in the modern world. So yes, they are more advanced…by definition.
Resident
,
somewhere in America,
18/1/2013 02:33
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I would sue.
ArmyChick
,
Concord NH, United States,
18/1/2013 02:28
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Let me guess is President Bush fault!
whatacrush
,
Iowa, United States,
18/1/2013 02:24
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{“They throw the word “liberal” around as an insult, without having the brains to realize that liberal is a more advanced mindset than conservative.” – Blisscat , Dallas} ======================= If “liberal” is not a pejorative but rather a more advanced mindset, then perhaps you can explain why liberals now shun the term and wish to be called “progressives.”
Captain America
,
Mississippi USA, United States,
18/1/2013 01:59
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Blisscat appears to be a govt tool/plant. Being from Texas, I know no one with his attitude. He sure wouldn’t voice his ideas in public. Not in Texas anyway
robertsgt40
,
san antonio texas usa, United States,
18/1/2013 01:57
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