The Bangor Daily News has asked all the police departments in Maine for the names, birth dates, and addresses for all concealed carry gun permit owners in the state. The gun owners’ names request has angered Second Amendment advocates and raised identity theft concerns.
The Maine newspaper’s Director of News and New Media Anthony Ronzio stated that The Bangor News does not intend to publish the names of gun owners. Ronzio claims that the newspaper is merely gathering information for analysis, the Online Sentinel reports. Staffers will reportedly be trying to find “correlations and trends” integral to the paper’s “reporting projects.”
Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine Executive Director, David Trahan, had this to say about concealed The Bangor News concealed carry permit names request:
“If they aren’t going to publish the data, I would question exactly what they want the information for. To me, this has no more value than a provocative move before the legislation takes a look at the policy.”
A bill is pending related to the release of personal information on concealed carry permit applications. If the legislation passes, it would be illegal to release such confidential data in Maine, the Press Herald notes.
Maine State House Republicans quickly mobilized against the request to reveal the names of gun owners in the state. GOP lawmakers planned a press conference for Thursday afternoon.
Governor Paul LePage will reportedly release a statement about The Bangor News request on Thursday as well. Governor LePage tweeted the following after the newspaper request made headlines:
“If newspapers want to know who has concealed weapons permits, they should know I do.”
Governor LePage’s posted included a photo of him holding his concealed carry permit.
What do you think about The Bangor News request to find out who holds a concealed carry permit in Maine?
[Image Via: Shutterstock.com ]
