As the son of a NYPD cop I’m conflicted about the publishing this map of New Yorkers in certain counties in New York with gun permits. Yes, this is public information but before this, it was never presented in this particular format. An interactive map that has the full names and addresses of those with gun permits. Are these journalists being responsible by presenting it in this way, or do they not care in their attempt to get page views in order to sell more ads?
I’m not sure what my opinion is on the map yet, but this has the potential to make my entire family a target (no pun intended) of anti-gun hatred without the context of my father’s past as a veteran New York City Police Officer. The article that accompanies the map (which few will read on their way to check out their neighborhood) does say that permit information is not available on an individual basis, which to me means they are admitting to not fully getting their own message across fully. Additionally, they also say that the permit information can be up to five years old, meaning that people could have passed away, moved across the country, or gotten rid of their guns. The problem with this? This map could be inaccurate.
I do think that we need to radically change how guns are regulated and controlled, but I would also hate to see something else bad happen as a result of this. With all of these terrible events happening, I appreciate the freedom we have with distributing information, but I do think that journalists need to start thinking about ethics again, and what some of the unintended consequences could be in their pursuit for page views.
