Update On Iowa Newspaper and Gun Owners

Iowa City, IA (TLS). The Iowa City Press-Citizen, the newspaper that published the names, addresses, and phone numbers of registered concealed gun owners in Johnson County, Iowa, maintains it was only following the law in making public the information.

No, the law does not mandate the publishing of information that is considered 'public.'

Allowing something and mandating it are two entirely different matters.

Liberal newspapers have used this argument as a matter of course to justify their despicable practice of publishing these names, i.e., that given that state law considers such information public, then it therefore is to be assumed that this 'public' information must be published.

Once again, let's turn to the information on personal real property that is entered into the records of every county courthouse in America. That, too, is considered public information. Why, then, do these newspapers not publish the detailed tax records and lot dimensions of homeowners?

There is but one simple-to-understand reason. Not everything that is 'legal' is 'smart.' In other words, the particular newspapers in this nation that publish the names of those with permits to carry concealed weapons are engaging in a practice that is 'legal' but 'dumb.'

The Iowa City Press-Citizen has not expressed one jot or tittle of remorse or regret in publishing those names, in spite of the fact that they may have put a number of local citizens in mortal danger.

The newspaper operates forums online where citizens can express their opinions concerning news items. An interesting thread has developed about this story. I encourage you to read it. It seems local gun owners are up in arms about the publishing of the information.

Interestingly, the Iowa City Press-Citizen is a Gannett newspaper, and thus, has a very liberal editorial policy. Apparently that liberal bent spills into the manner in which news is reported as well.

Click here to go to the forum about the publishing of the names of concealed gun owners:
http://forums.press-citizen.com/viewtopic.php?t=1057