In the highly competitive world of the news media, one New York paper is apparently more than happy to embarrass another in connection with the recent gun-map controversy.
The Journal News, which serves readers in Westchester, Rockland and Putnam counties, recently caused a firestorm of anger when it published an interactive map of addresses, helping identify people who legally own guns in its area. Ironically, the Journal News has since reportedly hired armed guards to protect its own staff.
But some of the public’s comments intended to scourge the Journal News have been mistakenly sent to the wrong newspaper, the Rockland County Times.
Now, editors at the Rockland paper are going public with those messages.
“The Rockland County Times has decided to publish these letters in the interest of showing exactly how the Journal News’ gun-map stunt made people around North America feel!” the paper shouted Wednesday.
It adds that “most of the letter-writers offered their apologies upon learning they sent their letter to the wrong newspaper.”
One reader, Terry Mulinski of Bothell, Wash., praised the Journal News, saying, “Good call on publishing. What ARE they complaining about?”
But most of the other comments vented a sense of outrage, with some using humor to express their displeasure.
Here is a sampling of some of the letters meant for the Journal News, but received and now published by the Rockland County Times:
- What is next will you be publishing a list of everyone in Rockland and Westchester who has a legitimate prescription for pain meds, because pain medicine kills far more people every year than guns. Make sure to highlight the old and frail who have meds the junkies will rob and kill for. This was a very dangerous move. You should be ashamed of yourself!! I would not use your paper to house break a dog! Typical media WHORE!!! – James Horigan
- Shame on you. Another damn liberal with a printing press. You should be ashamed of yourself as the publisher to release the names and a google interactive map of pistol permit holders. What in the world did you think this would achieve except to cause trouble? The legal owners are not the problem, figure it out. You are just as dangerous as the bad guys, but I’m sure you don’t quite see it that way, because you are an unusual bird. May this stand destroy what the Internet has not yet destroyed of your newspaper. Hail to the Internet for giving us the ability to obtain the names, addresses and phone numbers of those who run and manage your organization. God, I love technology. – Jim Varriale
- I see that you believe people should not own guns, so you endanger them by putting out their information, but then you turn around and hire armed guards. You are promoting the Communist Agenda and don’t even know it, or maybe you do and just don’t care. Now all the criminals know exactly what houses to rob. I hope you get sued by everyone whose house is robbed. There is no longer one reporter in this entire country who I trust to tell the truth anymore. – David Patton
- I am rolling with laughter at your paper. How nice it is to print and mock all those people who are bright enough to be able to defend themselves, while believing you have the moral high ground. How quickly the shoe is on the other foot when it comes to your safety. I wish you no harm but you are the typical liberal bastion of hypocrisy. Like Bloomberg and all the others: ‘get rid of the guns,’ while they have bodyguards and you your armed security. Laughable. Crazy people do what crazy people will do. – Al Clayton, Bayville, N.J.
- You get some negative phone calls and email and you have to hire armed guards. So you don’t have the guts to carry a weapon to protect yourself or others. Instead you use your money to hire someone for your personal defense. You want to have someone with Second Amendment rights protect your First Amendment rights, LOL. What a pathetic response. – Rick Clark, Terre Haute, Ind.
- BORN 1888, DIED 2013: Obituary for your newspaper’s last headline. What a joke, hiring armed guards to protect yourself, and splashing all over your trash newspaper, law abiding Second Amendment rights to bear arm citizens. You’re a hypocrite and a sad excuse for allowing this. – Ray LeBlanc
- Pathetic. Hope you are sued and go out of business. I tell everyone about what you did. Very sad. – Mark Ratikan
- What a bunch of irresponsible twits. Now, how about publishing names and addresses of all the executives of the newspaper. Not so brave about doing that, are you? – Bill Denney
- Although I am not a registered gun owner, I have a number of friends who are. I thank you for your misguided (and malicious?) publication of their names and addresses, since it will serve to protect them, albeit in a limited way. As I’m sure your research shows, the presence of legal firearms serves as a deterrent to those who would use them illegally. You have, in effect, sent a warning of sorts to those “bad guys” who might be looking (for example) to invade a home. Of course, by so doing, you have also identified those homes that are not protected. If you are truly serious about this issue, why not also focus on criminal control? E.g., call for a mandatory jail sentence for those who use guns during the commission of a crime. Sincerely, Gary Markman, Mahopac, N.Y.
- Instead of printing private info on law obeying citizens, why wouldn’t you try to expose those who carry illegally. Now criminals know where to go to steal a gun(s). Nice work … maybe one day, one of those stolen guns that you so ignorantly decided to give to a criminal will do harm to an innocent person, or worse, innocent child. Guns don’t kill…people kill. – Kevin Eder
- Nice of you to print a map of where criminals can break in and steal a gun. Why not print a map of rich people to go with it? Dumb a–es. Oh and I am not a gun owner. Sincerely, William Miller
- I do believe in the rights of a free press. But what you have done is yell fire in a theater. You gave the bad people in that area of the country a list of homes to break in into if they want to steal guns. Or made every one else a target that their is less of a chance they have a gun in there homes. What were you thinking? – Ken Janssen
- Thank-you for allowing the printing of residences of people owning guns! Now the criminals will know where NOT to go when robbing and KILLING your people of your city! See how many people in that area get victimized by you printing this! You are a dumba–. – Ron Jeffries
- I hope you are held responsible for ANY robberies that occur at the addresses that you published, you are despicable low-life people who have NO clue about your military and this country! Military are now polled to ensure that they will fire on Americans if ordered. Write that story, then go buy yourself a gun, learn to use it properly, and store it in a gun safe. Because crazy is out there, vicious is out there and thanks to you, they now have a list to use to get more guns! May you pay for what you have done. Kelly King, Fort Lauderdale
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2013/01/oops-gun-map-hate-mail-goes-to-wrong-paper/#bwoSdDMgsbdkZ21R.99
That’s really big of them. Always, always remember to close the barn door after the horses have gone. ie: they have already endangered families with the copies that are our there.
It is my considered opinion that ALL ‘news’ papers are invariably wrong.