PRINCE/Guns, Bibles and freedom
Put it this way, do you fear your neighbor more now or the government?
Sen. Will Longwitz, a Republican of Madison, has introduced legislation to exempt gun permit holders from the public record. There’s a similar measure in the House by Rep. Mark Baker of Brandon.
This legislation is a knee-jerk reaction to a liberal New York newspaper – and we see what’s happened to that newspaper.
They’ve taken the map down and will probably get sued because they were so irresponsible.
If we start closing off public records, we will never know the misuses by the government.
It’s troubling Republicans would take such as totalitarian approach to government.
If the government is going to maintain records on gun owners,?those records should be open.
What if law enforcement arbitrarily decides to collect more information and add to the files they already have on gun owners, maybe creating sub-databases?
What will government collect in secret about gun owners and how will the government use that information?
Open records help the press provide oversight, a primary role in our democracy.
Transparency is about keeping an eye on our government, not citizens.
Madison County Journal
1/29/13