After withering criticism, the suburban Journal News has shut down a controversial gun permit database that allowed readers to access the names and addresses of gun owners, published shortly after the Newtown school massacre.
Publisher Janet Hasson said in a statement today that the paper wasn’t admitting it made a mistake when it made public the personal information of gun permit owners in Westchester and Rockland counties, and that it wasn’t caving to critics or death threats it received in the aftermath.
“The database has been public for 27 days and we believe those who wanted to view it have done so already,” Hasson said.
The information published by the newspaper is public record — although some critics have said the decision to reveal names and addresses of permit holders amounted to little more than a “data dump.”
Hasson said New York’s recently-passed gun-control legislation, which allows permit holders to request their personal information be kept confidential, also weighed in the decision.
A snapshot of the map showing the general location of gun permit holders in the two counties remains on the newspaper’s website.
The paper tried to get the same information from Putnam County, but officials refused.