The Journal News has taken down a map from its website giving the addresses of every gun permit holder in two New York counties.
The addresses on the map were taken from public records and listed by The Journal News last month. Publisher Janet Hasson now says the map has served its purpose.
In a statement posted to The Journal News’ website Hasson writes:
“Today The Journal News has removed the permit data from loud.com.
Our decision to do so is not a concession to critics that no value was served by the posting of the map in the first place.
Nor is our decision made because we were intimidated by those who threatened the safety of our staffers. We know our business is a controversial one, and we do not cower.
But the database has been public for 27 days and we believe those who wanted to view it have done so already. As well, with the passage of time, the data will become outdated and inaccurate.”
The published information caused outrage from gun permit holders. Many threatened to unsubscribe to the publication.
According to CNN , The Journal News does not plan to back down on covering gun ownership. It plans to continue requesting dates from New York counties when new public information is released.
Here is a video of press conference held by New York police asking the website to take the map down:
http://youtu.be/pgxU7sNv_24
While the map has been taken down, The Journal News has decided to leave up a still shot of the map with all its location dots as a reminder to the community.
What do you think? Is The Journal News doing the right thing by taking down the gun permit holder map?