Fox News – by Jeremy A. Kaplan
A new Android app asks users to expose the home addresses of gun owners they deem “potentially unsafe” — and share that information with the world.
The Gun Geo Marker app
, released to Google’s Play app store on July 7, invites users to mark the homes and businesses of “suspected unsafe gun owners … to help others in the area learn about their geography of risk from gun accidents or violence.” The app bills itself as merely a tool to collect information, but it was hit with a firestorm of negative reviews and comments from people worried that it could do more harm than good.
“This is dangerous and invasive,” wrote Levi Russell in a review of the app. “Dangerous because it allows criminals to determine where they might steal firearms….you are an accomplice to any firearm theft that will occur due to the existence of this app.”
“Major violation of privacy,” wrote Danielle Sigman in another review, one of more than 700 one-star reviews of the app. “Could cause a lot of safety issues for non-gun owners.”
Brett Stalbaum, the developer of Gun Geo Marker and a lecturer with the Visual Arts department of the University of California, San Diego, said he had received threats over the app.
“The gun rights community has been busy making personal threats (we remain unconcerned), as well as spamming the Gun Geo Marker database with false markers,” he exclusively told FoxNews.com. “Though these fake markers are not useful for identifying dangerous guns and owners, they are certainly representative of the highly paranoid reaction we have come to expect from any attempt to improve gun safety in the United States.
“This kind of reaction — automatically lining up on the wrong side of reasonable measures to improve the safe use and ownership of guns — aids and abets the crisis of child shooting deaths,” he said.
In January, a similar outcry arose after a New York newspaper published the home addresses of area residents with permits to own guns. After threats were called into their offices and the home addresses of editors posted online, The Journal News took down the data.
Whether an app or online, publishing the addresses of gun owners is a risky proposition, experts warn.
“This makes those who don’t have guns an easier target for criminals. It’s a safety issue,” John Lott, gun expert and author of the book More Guns, Less Crime, told FoxNews.com.
“I’ve debated a lot of gun control advocates over the years, and I’ve never met someone who has been willing to put up a sign in front of their house indicating that their home is a gun-free zone,” he said.
Google tells FoxNews.com they do not comment on individual apps, but said to refer to their Google Play developer program policies for apps that are not allowed.
The policy says Google Play does not allow content that contains violence or hate speech, bullying or illegal activities, among others. Gun Geo Marker is not available on the iPhone.
“As a gun owner myself, I want to see our rights preserved, and thwarting the will of 90 percent of the American people who want common sense, Constitutional measures to improve gun safety is mathematically unwise,” Stalbaum said.
Who ever wrote this app should be castrated. Unbelievable, this is treason to the Bill of Rights as most people with guns have a lot to protect. Jewelry, cash etc. Total disrespect for private property. A well used, worn, 10 foot length of hemp rope is called for here. Nothing less than a tall, strong, oak tree branch located near a buzzard nest will do quite nicely.
Hell with the gun grabbers!!!
Here is how to mark any location you want on this app:
Feel free to mark anti-gun people’s houses, etc….
On your android phone:
1. Download and install the gun geo marker app from Google Play
2. Download and install “Fake GPS Location” app from Goole Play.
3. Turn on “allow mock locations” in the debugging section under settings>developer options (the fake gps app will guide you)
4. use the Fake GPS Location app to set you location to where ever you choose (scroll map and click set location)
5. use the gun geo marker app to mark your fake location
Have fun!!!
by the way, here is who owns the gungeomarker website:
Domain ID:D168801159-LROR
Domain Name:GUNGEOMARKER.ORG
Created On:28-May-2013 03:08:34 UTC
Last Updated On:28-May-2013 03:08:34 UTC
Expiration Date:28-May-2014 03:08:34 UTC
Sponsoring Registrar:Wild West Domains, LLC (R120-LROR)
Status:CLIENT DELETE PROHIBITED
Status:CLIENT RENEW PROHIBITED
Status:CLIENT TRANSFER PROHIBITED
Status:CLIENT UPDATE PROHIBITED
Status:TRANSFER PROHIBITED
Registrant ID:CR144133133
Registrant Name:Brett Stalbaum
Registrant Organization:University of California San Diego
Registrant Street1:9500 Gillman Drive 0084
Registrant Street2:c/o Visual Arts
Registrant Street3:
Registrant City:La Jolla
Registrant State/Province:California
Registrant Postal Code:92093
Registrant Country:US
Registrant Phone:+1.2252677346
Registrant Email:stalbaum@ucsd.edu
Lets see how he likes it….
I’d suggest using the app responsibly.
Mark the addresses of any and all law enforcement personnel. Lots of cops stop by their house for lunch, etc, so the frequent presence of a cruiser is a great hint.
Mark the addresses of any and all government employees you know of.
Send the crooks seeking guns to the homes of the government tax-parasites, and you will be doing society a favor.
Totally agree put every COP and Gov employee on the list. Start with Mayor Bloomberg Zionist first.
This leads to the question that if you mark someones house, are you or the person that wrote and put the app up responceable for any crime against the home owner? Is the home owner able to take legal action against the app provider or the person that marks them? As well as being stupid , this is just plain moronic.
1600 Pennsylvania ave. most dangerous person in America!!! Gives guns away free to drug lords and criminals.
It occurred to me that app developer Brett Stalbaum didn’t consider the potential for abuse of his brain child.
The hot chick who wouldn’t put out — mark her house
The neighbor who is slow to return borrowed tools — mark his house
The teacher who gave you a B, when you deserved an A — mark his house
The customer service manager who wouldn’t accept a return — mark her house
The owner of the roofing company who refused to make good on shoddy work — mark his house
The donut shops where cops hang out — mark them
As the saying goes — Unintended, meet consequences!
Disclaimer: The above are hypothetical examples of ways in which the app could be abused. They are not intended to be, nor should they be interpreted to be, suggestions for abuse of this app.
That is the first thought that went through my mind when I read this article.
I hope the developer of this “App” is sued for violating the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Further, if a burglary results and a resident is injured or killed, then I hope the app developer faces a charge of accessory before the fact to murder. This is an outrageous violation of civil rights. If someone starts listing the homes of police officers then, I suspect, there will be a massive knee-jerk reaction calling for banning such “apps” but until then, the average citizen will continue to be treated as second class by authorities.
“This kind of reaction — automatically lining up on the wrong side of reasonable measures to improve the safe use and ownership of guns — aids and abets the crisis of child shooting deaths,” he said.”
There you go.
THINK OF THE CHILDREN.
Don’t you you’re stretching that one WAY too thin, @sshole?
Here is more info on the app developer http://pastebin.com/xK4f3N1k
Hope he has insurance for libel.