Editor's note: The database has been removed. Read the statement.
The Roanoke Times Removes Database of Handgun Permit Holders
March 12, 2007 — The Roanoke Times has decided to remove the online database of registered concealed handgun permit holders from its website.
The newspaper is requesting the Virginia State Police, which provided the information, verify the data.
“When we posted the information, we had every reason to believe that the data the State Police had supplied would comply with the statutes. But people have notified us that the list includes names that should not have been released,� said Debbie Meade, president and publisher of The Roanoke Times. “Out of a sense of caution and concern for the public we have decided to take the database off of our website.�
The database was posted on roanoke.com on Sunday as part of a New River Valley editorial page column about open records. This column, as well as others that will be published this week, is part of a special focus on Sunshine Week, a national initiative to raise awareness about open government and freedom of information.
http://blogs.roanoke.com/roundtable/col ... mn_12.html
I find the original article a bit disturbing. In it the author states "There are good reasons the records are open to public scrutiny. People might like to know if their neighbors carry."
What business is it of my neighbors what I do in my day to day life? Fankly, its none of their business whether or not Im carrying as far as Im concerned. If the author believes this information should be made available then I think I should be permitted to require my neighbors to undergo the same criminal background check I had to go thru in obtaining my CHL because I want to know if I have a spouse/child beater, drug pusher, arsonist, rapist, etc living next to me - turnabout is fair play right? If they really want to know who is carrying so badly then change the law to allow open carry, that way there is no question
<steps off soapbox>