I’ve held off on writing any political posts because I think a lot of people’s eyes gloss over, but I just can’t hold back on this particular issue: public dissemination of gun holder information.
My first reaction to this whole kerfuffle is: why on earth is any of this information widely available to the public? What the hell is going on in New York!? Why would any gun holder allow this law to be passed? But then I realized that NY is much more restrictive about guns than the “wild west” coast.
Even still, something about this really bothers me. I just don’t see why this information should be made public. What purpose does it serve? What’s the use case? So that you can check to see if your neighbor has a gun? Why is it any of YOUR (generically speaking) business whether your neighbor has a gun? If you really want to know, you can ask them – and the neighbor can decide if he/she wants you to know. It’s not your business to know.
Does it make you safer in any way to which of your neighbors has a gun? I hear the excuse, “I want to know who has guns so I can make sure my kids don’t go there”. What’s next, public maps on which houses have pools, trampolines, matches, small objects, solvents, alcohol, tobacco, and pornography? It comes down to you having to be a parent. You have to know where your kids are, who they’re with, and what they’re doing. If keeping your kids away from guns is that important to you, you will discuss your concerns with the parents of the kids play with, and if there are guns in the house (that the neighbors will cop to), then you take steps to deal with it. Incidentally, if your neighbors (as fellow parents) can’t or won’t tell you the truth about their guns, you probably have bigger problems to deal with.
