A conservative media watchdog says the recent move by a New York area newspaper is part of the mainstream media's effort to demonize gun owners.
In the wake of the shooting massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, the Journal News, owned by the Gannett conglomerate, published an online interactive map that shows the names and addresses of thousands of residents in Westchester and Rockland counties who have handgun permits. The database was accompanied by an article titled "The gun owner next door: What you don't know about the weapons in your neighborhood."
The newspaper obtained the names through a Freedom of Information Act request. But Fox News reports that there has already been a backlash from readers, who say the map makes gun owners a target and tells criminals which homes do not contain a gun.
"You can look at this map two ways: You can look and see where this is a place to target, because when the people are not home, you can go there and steal their guns. Or just go to the neighbor's house and think there's little chance that these people have guns, so it's a lot safer place to go commit a crime," says Dan Gainor, vice president at the Media Research Center (MRC).
He contends that mainstream media outlets like the Journal News are out to demonize gun owners.
"The great irony of it is they're using the First Amendment to try to demonize the Second Amendment. Their constitutional class ends frankly at free press and free speech," Gainor reasons. "They don't even believe in freedom of religion, so they sure as heck don't believe in the Second Amendment."
In response, the MRC vice president tells OneNewsNow some critics of the newspaper's action have utilized their own First Amendment rights, creating "an interactive map of the employees of the Journal News … their addresses and their contact information."