Handgun Carry Database: marketing tool
A bit back, there was a bill to restrict access to the list of handgun carry permit holders. It failed by one vote and the press told us that it failed precisely because our politicos wanted to use it for solicitation and marketing. And I reported where some idiots had sent me some unsolicited junk mail and noted I was a permit holder. Apparently, lots of folks are snooping through the list:
Supporters of blocking public access to the names and addresses of Tennesseans with handgun carry permits appear to have a hard time keeping their hands off the records.
An Associated Press records search has found copies of the state’s database of more than 257,000 handgun permit holders were recently requested by the National Rifle Association, the state Republican Party and a direct mail contractor that has done extensive work for the GOP’s legislative caucus.
Yup. Folks who advocated keeping the list private are snooping through it.
November 2nd, 2009 at 3:16 pm
Markie Marxist sez: “I sent a copy of the list of handgun permit holders to my friends in the PLA. If they ever make it as far as Tennessee, they’ll know who to shoot first. All your handguns are belong to us! Ha! Ha!”
November 2nd, 2009 at 4:14 pm
Well, to be fair they probably knew this would happen if the list was left public and tried to shutdown their future bad behavior.
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:54 pm
This is not the same as if it the list were published in the newspaper, or if the Brady Bunch got hold of it.
Still, I’m not wild about it.
November 2nd, 2009 at 5:54 pm
“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines.” – RWE
I believe the fundraisers for the various orgs would agree.
November 2nd, 2009 at 9:03 pm
I think there is a big difference between NRA using the list to contact gun owners in support of progun legislation or candidates and the Commercial Appeal putting it online for everyone to snoop through.
November 2nd, 2009 at 11:19 pm
Would it too much to hope for that those that support making the list private make a highly annoying but relatively harmless exploitation of the list, as a sort of pre-emptive attack of the kind they want to prevent, in order to create the public rumbligns that will get the list closed? Sort of a…
“HEY, YOU WITH THE GUN! Yeah, you! It costs me $X in FOIA charges to get your address, and everyone else who has a Handgun Carry License. You know what this tells me? WHO’S GOT THE GUNS, and WHERE THEY ARE. By any chance is your home unattended during the day? Statistics say that you’ve got more than just the pistol you carry for self-defense. Sounds like an opportunity to me, and it just costs me $X!
“My buddy, the wife-beater, paid his $X, but he didn’t care about your address. No, he was interested in only one. And he got what he paid for!
“Incidentally, would you like to purchase some Dragon’s Hammer ammunition? Absolutely guaranteed to cost four times what similar ammunition costs, but they come is a well designed cardboard box!
“Maybe you should contact your legislator if none of this sounds like a good idea.”
November 3rd, 2009 at 1:25 am
Not really surprised. It’s a good tool to have for outreach, even if you believe it should be private.
November 3rd, 2009 at 9:57 am
Operating within the law you want to get changed isn’t really strange to me.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:55 pm
“Operating within the law you want to get changed isn’t really strange to me.”
Agreed. Like various sorts of welfare: I’m against much of it on principle. But my tax dollars are paying for it now. So if I end up needing it later, damn straight I’ll avail myself. And won’t feel a shred of guilt either.