UPDATE:
Linoge at The Walls of the City (http://www.wallsofthecity.net/2009/02/commercial_update.html) has an update on the Commercial Appeal’s publication of licensed gun owners. How have the attention whores at the paper reacted to the public outrage? They have thrown gasoline on the fire by adding to the database, instead of removing it. Here’s a complete list of names and addresses for the pricks at the Commercial Appeal who took it upon themselves to invade the privacy of law-abiding citizens. I suggest invading theirs, for a change.
Hat tip to Shot Across the Bow: http://shotsacrossthebow.com/archives/003287.html
Joseph Pepe president and publisher
3195 Wetherby Cv S Germantown, TN 38139Steve Tomb VP of Operations
1846 Wildcreek Cv Collierville, TN 38017Chris Peck Editor
21 Belleair Dr Memphis, TN 38104Otis Sanford editor/opinion & editorials
3396 Park Ave Memphis, TN 38111Eric Janssen VP of Digital Media
8996 Stratfield Cv Germantown, TN 38139Scott Sines managing editor
2136 Wentworth Ln Germantown, TN 38139Daniel Moehle VP/Chief Financial Officer
3172 Devonshire Way Germantown, TN 38139Karl Wurzbach VP of Sales and Marketing
3098 Bentwood Run Dr Collierville, TN 38017Robert Jiranek VP of New Business Development
175 Waring Rd Memphis, TN 38117Bob Pinarski Advertising director
3961 Herons Landing Ln Arlington, TN 38002Denise Holman Manager of Classified Advertising
720 Litty Ct 103 Memphis, TN 38103Paul Jewell Marketing director
1439 Vance Ave Memphis, TN 38104No particular reason, just posting public records.
I can add phone numbers to this list if requested.
Just for shits and giggles, here’s a searchable data base on the property values of their homes:
Shelby County Property Appraisals
(Public Information)
I love it! This is what happened when a leftwing Memphis newspaper decided to target people who value the rights protected by the 2nd Amendment. ‘Linoge’, a blogger at The Walls of the City, has a gun-carry permit, and opened fire:
Apparently some Memphis newspaper called the “Commercial Appeal” decided to go ahead and violate the privacy of around 200,000 Tennessee citizens by publishing a searchable database of all handgun carry permit holders in our great state. Apparently they did not learn from the Tennesseean’s experience doing this last time around…
Regardless, I went ahead and shot this email off to the paper’s president, vice-president of operations, vice-president of digital media, and all three editors (with appropriate changes for titles) – hey, when all else fails, dazzle them with overwhelming firepower.
Sir,
My name is [NAME], and I am a proud Tennessee resident and handgun carry permit holder. It has come to my attention that you, as the editor of Commercial Appeal, have decided to violate the privacy of hundreds of thousands of my fellow law-abiding Tennessee citizens, and I am at a complete loss as to why you would do such a thing.
I understand that the information you published is, unfortunately, public data, freely accessible to those who would be interested in it. However, the extent to which you published it goes far beyond the public’s specious “right to know”, and ventures far into the realms of personal intrusion, privacy violation, and possible endangerment.
I procured my handgun carry permit to more adequately defend myself and my family from those who would do me harm. As a rule, I do not make my possession of this permit public knowledge, not out of some misplaced sense of shame, but rather a continuation of my desire for safety, security, and privacy. unfortunately, your new database puts all handgun carry permit holders at risk, not only in their homes, but also on the streets. Handgun carry permit holders would only have the permit if they possessed an expensive item that would yield a high price on a streetcorner deal, or be of great use to a criminal looking to expand his rap sheet, and now, with the information you have so graciously provided to the criminal elements of Tennessee, those law-breakers know exactly where to find hardware to potentially steal. Furthermore, simply walking down the street turns into a concern, should a criminal happen to visually know someone on your database, and wish to relieve that person of his firearm, or “prove” himself to his buddies by standing up to the big, bad permit holder. Again, I simply cannot understand why you would make targets out of your fellow citizens.
Additionally, I do not at all understand why this database has been categorized under “Public Safety”, along with three databases of criminals and two databases of accidents. Handgun carry permit holders, by their very definition, are not criminals, they are not “accidents”, nor are they a risk to public safety, and the implications and insinuations generated by this assocation are distasteful to the extreme.
Due to public outcry, I understand that you have taken down the address portion of your database; however, simply using an individual’s first and last names, and the city in which they reside, it is a simple matter to procure their street address and phone number. By way of example, a weblogger has done just this with the entire managing staff of the Commercial Appeal: http://shotsacrossthebow.com/archives/003287.html.
As a law-abiding citizen, a handgun-carry permit holder, and a concerned husband, I request that you immediately take down the database of handgun carry permit holders before it is used as a tool against my fellow citizens. Furthermore, though far less importantly, I would like to request an explanation of why you decided this information should be made public in an easily-accessible, easily-searchable manner.
Please be advised – this letter, as well as any response you send, will be posted at my website. Additionally, this letter is not intended for publishing in your newspaper, and no permission is granted to republish any of it in digital, physical, or any other form.
Sincerely,
[NAME].
I will, of course, keep you appraised of any developments.
http://www.wallsofthecity.net/2009/02/defending_my_privacy.html
The Liberal media doesn’t like their own tactics being used on them. Of course, they think private law-abiding citizens who own firearms are criminals, instead of the thugs who use them in the commission of a crime.
I own a .380 Browning semi-auto. I guaran-god-damn-tee you that I value my life, property, and family, more than the snotty indignation of a self-appointed anti-gun hack.
Due to the public outcry, the paper has circled the wagons and gone into hissy-fit mode. It’s hilarious and you ought to read some of the lame excuses. The paper’s editor Chris Peck, opines:
Misunderstandings with people who carry guns can turn ugly.
Yep, especially when burglars and would-be rapists are shot by home-owners with guns.
And this is really pathetic:
This past week it has been ugly at the newspaper, after passionate gun owners latched onto….very wrong ideas about why The Commercial Appeal’s Web site now lists all those in Tennessee who have a permit to carry a concealed weapon.
The wrong ideas…like anger over violating the privacy of law abiding citizens in the guise of ‘concern over public safety’? Cry me a fucking river.
By late last week, Commercial Appeal executives were receiving as many as 600 e-mails a day, along with dozens of phone calls at home, at work and on their cell phones. Maps to their houses, with ominous warnings, had been posted online.
Gee, you don’t think your readers can’t ascertain the same information about people by simply plugging names into the search function? How does it feel to have your personal information spread around like cheez whiz, Peck?
The paper continues to spin its screw-up into the ground with half-assed excuses, prompting The Walls of the City blogger to ream The Commercial Appeal a new asshole, here:
http://www.wallsofthecity.net/2009/02/commercial_fisking.html
If Peck was so wrapped around the axle over ‘public safety’, why not publish a searchable data base of all the convicted rapists, pedophiles, and gang members in Memphis? Their ‘privacy’ doesn’t matter as much.
Just about any information that is a matter of public record can be accessed via the internet. The problem with Peck and company, is they wanted to make it a personal matter; against lawful handgun owners.
Is it just me? or is the only time the Commercial Appeal is useful is when training a new puppy?
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Yeah… that is just strange – he did not try to explain, excuse, or rationalize putting up the database at all. Instead, he seemed entirely on the defensive. That could be due to the fact that he thinks he adequately expressed himself on his various editorials and articles concerning the database, or he could, honestly, be on the defensive about it now.
The latter definitely works for me.
As for calmer heads, I definitely agree, though not to the extent he might like. I certainly do not like it when I see pictures about the children and various other family members of the staff at the Commercial Appeal, however, I have absolutely nothing against posting the staff’s information, be it his boss, his subordinate, or whomever. They are all complicit in this privacy invasion, and their experiences having their own privacy invaded should give them some clue as to how the 200,000+ handgun carry permit holders in Tennessee feel at the moment.
Like I said over my way, I think his agenda is simple – the database initially went up as a corollary to their article back in 2008 about felons getting permits. Then they forgot about it. Then someone noticed, this forestfire has started up, and now, by damn, they have found a hot-button issue that is getting their paper all manner of publicity and press, and they are going to pound the gos-se out of that button. Right now, I fear the only way to get them to take the database down is to either make it illegal, or to cause them to lose sufficient amounts of money over it.
I guess it is just a race, now :).
I received an e-mail response from Chris Peck, Editor of the Commercial Appeal:
To which I replied:
He wrote back:
And I replied:
No more replies as yet, but I will keep everyone posted.
In his responses, Peck never gave the rationalization for publishing such a list in the first place. He avoided the question. I’ll venture a S.W.A.G.
There’s no real reason except to drum up sensationalist anti-gun feelings. (And sell newspapers)
Why not instead, publish stories of armed homeowners who thwart would-be thieves, rapists, and various other wackjobs, with their privately owned firearms? He could have done that, but it won’t fit with the paper’s liberal editorial slant.
After reading his ‘explainations’, there is still no valid reason as to why any American publication would, out of thin air, target a law-abiding segment of our society simply because they legally own firearms.
Unless they have an agenda.
SFC MAC
Linoge,
Your’re welcome, and I’ve sent a little missive to the Commercial Appeal.
SFC MAC
Thanks for the vote of support, as well as for spreading the news of this privacy invasion far and wide – the more negative exposure this gets, the higher the probability that the Commercial Appeal does the right thing and takes this database down.
Feel free to email the newspaper, or, better, its advertisers, and let them know of your disapproval ;). Thanks again.