Cleveland Editor Takes Heat for Publishing Gun List

July 28, 2004
Editor & Publisher

NEW YORK When Ohio legislators approved a new law allowing residents to carry concealed weapons, but allowed only the media to find out the names of those obtaining such permits, The Plain Dealer in Cleveland decided to let the public know which of their neighbors were on the list.

Starting Wednesday, the paper began publishing the names, ages and home counties of the 3,000 residents who have taken out such permits, citing the public's right to know.

"We don't think the public should be denied access to the names at all," said Plain Dealer Editor Doug Clifton, who published about 1,500 names over a full page Wednesday and planned to run a page and a half of the remaining names on Thursday. "We figured it was our obligation to share it with the broader public."

But that did not sit well with a local gun rights group, which aimed its opposition to the publication effort directly at Clifton. Ohioans for Concealed Carry (OFCC) posted Clifton's home address, phone number and even a map to his house on its Web site Wednesday. The group claimed that if readers have a right to know who has concealed weapons, they have a right to know Clifton's personal information.

"The Plain Dealer was one of the first to publish its intention to abuse the media access privilege, granted after Gov. [Bob] Taft insisted that reporters could act as a check and a balance to insure that licenses were being issued appropriately," the OFCC Web site states. "The editor believes in open records. Thus he should certainly have no problem with OFCC publishing his home address and telephone number."

OFCC also posted information about the cost of Clifton's house, his personal background and educational information, and how many children and grandchildren he has.

Clifton, a longtime leader in the Freedom of Information battle and former chair of the American Society of Newspaper Editors FOI committee, said the information went up at noon Wednesday and sparked a flurry of phone calls to his home. "There has been a steady stream of phone calls, some of them obscene," he said. "I talked to my wife at about 3 p.m. and she said they were coming about one every two minutes."

The veteran editor, who said he has always had a published phone number, hoped he would not have to change it, and did not expect to alter the paper's plans for publication of the names, which will include a monthly update on any new concealed weapons permit registrants. "I'm going to play it out and see what happens," he said. "I hope no one gets it in their head to come knocking on my door."

The Ohio legislature passed the law in January, according to Clifton, who said the new legislation took effect in April. The Plain Dealer did not publish the lists until now because it needed time to compile the names and get all of the information together, he said.

The Plain Dealer is the fifth Ohio daily to run the names of permit holders since they began to be issued, but the only one to put them online.

Editor Matt Westerhold of the Chronicle-Telegram in Elyria, one of the other papers running the lists, said he had received some angry phone calls and letters, but nothing more. "It is valuable public information," he said about the decision to run the names. "It was very strange for them to allow only the media to [have access to the names]."

Commentary:
February 13, 2004, Boycottwatch.org"

"One person who intends to obtain a permit said he would publish the names and home addresses of the Plain Dealer reporters if the Plain Dealer published the names of permit holders, to which Managing Editor Tom O'Hara replied: "They are welcome to do whatever they think is right."

One gun owner and concealed carry permit advocate who prefers to remain anonymous observed, "The Plain Dealer wants to intimidate people from engaging in a legal activity. It is like obtaining a list of gay public school teachers and publishing it in order to intimidate them."

As regular readers of this website know, OFCC has only ever advocated friendly, polite grassroots activism. In this case, calls to Mr. Clifton have not even been suggested. By publishing his private information, we simply hope to see if Mr. Clifton is as big a believer in open access to public records as he claims.

Clifton's newspaper published the names of nearly 3000 more concealed handgun license-holders today, from Geauga, Lake, Lorain, Medina, Portage and Summit counties.

Concealed handgun license-holders take this violation of privacy and abuse of the media access privilege very seriously. There are many reasons.

For example, Ohio gun-ban extremist Toby Hoover is on record encouraging employers to consider whether or not a potential new-hire is a CHL-holder before hiring.

Instances of criminals targeting particular locations they know to contain specific valuables (such as firearms), and staking out or casing residences to make sure no one is home, are common and well documented.

Some persons who seek to bear arms for self-defense are trying desperately not to be found - such as battered wives hiding from their former husbands.

What if the violent stalker who was shot by this Indiana woman had known in advance that she was carrying? ''God's grace'' (and concealed firearm) saves Indiana woman's life.

What if this armed criminal had known in advance this Toledo CHL-holder had just received his concealed handgun license? Clerk says he shot to save his life in robbery.

Editors at the Cleveland Plain Dealer apparently care nothing for people like this in Ohio, much less about your opinion.

In a recent news story, the Ft. Wayne News-Sentinel raided the privacy of concealed handgun license-holders, and "outed" a few high-profile people. Most interestingly, the list included the anti-gun editor of a competing paper - the Ft. Wayne Journal-Gazette's Tracy Warner.

The editors at the News-Sentinel were kind enough to ask their readers if they believed the paper should proceed with plans to make the entire list of Allen Co (IN) CHL-holders available online (something editors at the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Elyria Chronicle-Telegram, Lorain Morning Journal, Sidney Daily News and Warren Tribune Chronicle haven't had the courtesy to do!).

95% of News-Sentinel readers told the paper to trash their idea. Could this be why member of the Ohio Newspaper Association haven't bothered to ask?

Clifton says he hopes "no one gets it in their head to come knocking on my door." Thanks to his actions, thousands of concealed handgun license-holders must endure this same concern.

"CHL-holders must now endure the negative effects of the Plain Dealer's actions 24-hours a day," said Chad Baus, OFCC Spokesperson. "If Clifton experiences a bit of inconvenience, it will be solely as a result of his actions against thousands of people who have broken no laws, violated no other persons' rights, and who simply wish to exercise their constitutional right to self-defense."

These editors claim they are acting "to give the rest of the public what the legislature denied it." Quite the contrary. By publishing these lists, liberal news editors are denying a whole class of people (who are already being proven as some of the state's most law-abiding citizens) something the legislature is obligated to protect - the individual right to privacy.

"To read the many complaints about the public records provision from the state's liberal media, one can't help but wonder whatever happened to their concerns for privacy," said OFCC PAC Chairman Jim Irvine. "That subject used to be a media favorite, but it seems to drop off their radar screen when it comes to law-abiding gun owners. We want everyone to know it hasn't dropped off of ours."

Click on the "Read More..." link below to read the first of what are likely many letters to the Plain Dealer about their irresponsible actions.

July 29, 2004
Cleveland Plain Dealer

Iwould like to thank The Plain Dealer for violating the spirit of the concealed-carry law by publishing the names of those who've obtained CCW permits. At first I was angered by the newspaper's decision to put these individuals on "Front Street," but, at second glance, I've concluded that editors have performed a very civic purpose by publishing the list of those "heroes" who have decided to get off their butts and do something to reduce crime by creating a greater fear factor for the criminal-minded.

I believe the next step would be for The Plain Dealer to publish public-record lists of "heels."

Name all persons convicted of felonies (including drug violations).

Identify sexual predators and offenders in each community.

Note the restaurant and liquor establishments that have been cited for drugs, gambling, prostitution, watering down of liquor or lack of sanitation.

The Plain Dealer may also want to list the names of each of its reporters and management employees and their declared political parties.

The above lists are public records and can be obtained by any citizen who cares enough to be informed. What I don't understand is why the paper has chosen to violate the original reasons for which the media requested the exemption for disclosure of CCW permit holders. Is it because of The Plain Dealer's liberal, anti-gun bias? This newspaper has taken a giant step down the slippery slope of betrayal of the public trust by publishing a list of noncriminals.

William A. Riedthaler
Northfield Center

July 29, 2004
Cleveland Plain Dealer

To what end has The Plain Dealer chosen to list all the law-abiding citizens who have permits to carry concealed weapons? Wouldn't the public be better served by listing all the criminals who possess firearms illegally? What's next, a roster of people who have a dog license?

Rick Arnholt
Strongsville