Troy Daily News latest to violate privacy of CHL-holders

Editor's Note: Please keep the following position of the Ohio Attorney General's office, which can be found in a document entitled "Use of Personally Identifying Information" (.pdf), in mind as you read the following story:

In limited instances, a journalist may make a written request to a county sheriff to obtain a licensee’s name, date of birth, county and the type of license (standard or temporary/ emergency) issued.

Ask yourself as you read - what is the least bit "limited" about the actions of these newspapers, and the Ohio Newspaper Association?

June 21, 2004
Troy Daily News

Gun fight Concealed carry triggers legal battles

Even as the Ohio Newspaper Association's open public records series has been running in newspapers across the state, the controversial Concealed Carry Weapons (CCW) law that went into effect April 8 has begun to generate disputes.

Also, while a grassroots organization called The Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence (OCAGV) is fighting to keep in place the journalist exception amendment to House Bill 12 that allows media to obtain the name, county of residence and date of birth of those holding a CCW permit, the bill's author, Ohio Rep. Jim Aslanides (R-94th Dist.) said Thursday he is gathering ammunition to attempt to have it repealed.

Locally, Miami County Prosecutor Gary Nasal has been appointed as a special prosecutor by Shelby County Prosecutor Jim Stevenson to look into possible criminal violations by Shelby County Sheriff Kevin O'Leary and Sidney Daily News Editor Jeffrey Billiel. The newspaper published the addresses of concealed carry weapon permit holders in Shelby County. The addresses allegedly were part of the list that was received from the sheriff's office.

Language in the Ohio Revised Code regarding the specific information that can be obtained by the media states, in part "Upon a written request made by a journalist...the sheriff shall disclose to the journalist the name, county of residence and date of birth of each person to whom the sheriff has issued an emergency license to carry a concealed handgun." This language appears in section (B)(2) of Section 2923.129 of the ORC.

Both the ONA and OCAGV originally lobbied for the amendment to allow both public and media access to the records, which are maintained by the sheriff's office in each county.

Frank Deaner, executive director of the ONA, explained that when the bill was passed, the amendment was added for disclosure to media only.

"ONA had argued that disclosure should be for both the public and media. The intent of the law was not to keep the information confidential. Media can do what it wants with it. There is no censorship here. It fulfills a public service," Deaner said.

"From a newspaper's standpoint, there are two paths you could take," Deaner said. "You could decide to use it as a good source to check names against the list in certain cases that come up to see if someone has a CCW permit."

"Or you may publish the list to provide a public service by lettings the public know who is carrying," he said.

Aslanides doesn't see it that way. He maintains that disclosure is not a public service, and that printing a list of names is abusive.

"Much of the bill is about confidentiality. If an officer using LEADS (Law Enforcement Automated Data System) disseminates the information from the database, it's a felony. If a sheriff releases information from the applications, it's a serious misdemeanor," he said.
"The reason it's so important is there will be so few permit holders in Ohio that they want to remain anonymous," Aslanides said.
He said the reason given by journalists who lobbied for an exception was to be able to check to see if the system is working.

If someone gets a felony, they could check to see if he loses his permit, or check someone to see if they have a felony," Aslanides said.

"In order for the system to work, there needs to be a lot of applications - it;s a deterrent to criminals. They don't know who has one and who doesn't."

If printing names is to harass, it may discourage people from getting the permits," he said.

"I wonder why would a journalist print the names of CCW permit holders and not the names of those who get driver's licenses," he said.

"The public does need to know if a certain John Doe is a criminal, a felon, robbed violently or attacked someone and be able to find out out if a certain John Doe has a (CCW) permit. But, journalists are getting all the names," Aslanides said.

"It's fuel. We're keeping all printed lists. We'll use it as fuel to address it (the exception) in the House," he said. He said that the state of Virginia has already lost its exception amendment.

"Holding a gun permit is a good thing - it makes people more careful, they're trained," he said. "By printing the names, you're suggesting people are more dangerous."

Deaner disagrees.

"It's a fallacy when people say, 'How would I feel if my name and address were published?' Privacy is not the issue. You're going to a government office to ask for a government-issued permit. And the permit is to carry a deadly weapon. So, I think that argument is flawed," he said.

Toby Hoover, president of OCAGV, said, "We felt from the beginning that legislation was considered for a small number of people. It seemed like they wanted to do something that they wanted to hide - carry a concealed weapon. The problem is, it is in public where the rest of us are."

We need the choice to know when we are with someone who's carrying. We may be working next to someone who is carrying or maybe someone we're hiring at a place of business is carrying," she said.

Deaner said the issue goes beyond media controversy.

"The issue of carrying a concealed weapon is a social issue. People have a lot of deep feelings about having guns in the community," he said. "Printing a list is about First Amendment rights and freedom of the press versus censorship."

In a related issue, on June 16, a Dayton man filed in Miami County Common Pleas Court the first appeal against Sheriff Charles A. Cox's office for denial of an application. A hearing is set for July. The reason given for the denial was the applicant was the subject of a Temporary or Civil Protection Order, according to the appeal.

"An attorney at the Ohio Attorney General's office told us there will be gray areas and issues with the law and they expected people would appeal," said Capt. Ken Artz of the sheriff's office, charged with oversight of the application process.

"We follow the law and the prosecutor's decisions," Artz said. "Our background checks are very thorough and will continue to be so.

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The Troy Daily News completed this story by listing the name, county of residence, and age of concealed handgun license-holders issued by the Miami County sheriff's office. They join a list of "sour grapes" press outlets which also includes the Warren Tribune Chronicle (Trumbull Co.), Elyria Chronicle-Telegram (Lorain Co.), and Sidney Daily News (Shelby Co.). OFCC is also aware of a number of other newspapers which have made requests and are building lists of CHL-holders in their counties, but have not (yet?) published them.

Commentary by Chad D. Baus: The Troy Daily News, like the Sidney Daily News, is a Brown Publishing newspaper, and the phone number is 937-335-5634 or 937-339-2729.

Frequent readers of this website will recall that Brown recently began posting "no-CCW" signs at their offices after the editor of the Wilmington News Journal illegally concealed a firearm and allegedly used it to kidnap a woman.

Another Brown Publishing editor, the Sidney Daily News' Jeffrey Billiel, is now also under investigation, after his requested information on CHL-holders and disseminated (published) that which is protected under the law.

That the Troy Daily News did not contact OFCC in preparation of this story is telling.

More telling are comments by ONA executive director Frank Deaner. Make no mistake - this issue is NOT a constitutional stand by these newspapers. It is clear from Deaner's comments that the issue is the "social concerns" he mentions. Claiming censorship is simply Deaner's way of camouflaging his liberal, anti-gun bias.

Far more people die in car accidents or when people use a car as a 3000 lb. weapon than do people from firearms-related incidents. Young drivers highly contribute to these deaths. Yet the ONA is not advising its members to compile lists of drivers license applicants, nor are they publishing lists of new licensees as a "public service" who wish to know who they are on the road with.

Rep. Aslanides is not the only elected official who has spoken out against this abuse. In January, Sen. Steve Austria seconded a warning from Rep. Aslanides, commenting that publishing the names of license-holders would be the exact kind of abuse they're referrring to, since publishing these names would threaten the safety of the very men and women who have chosen to bear arms for self-defense. Austria ha syet to issue public comment now that these abuses have in fact occurred. OFCC will be looking to him to lead efforts to repeal this amendment in the Senate, as Rep. Aslanides is in the House. Both men are up for relection this November.

Ms. Hoover is under the delusion that she can know she is in the presence of a gun simply because these lists are published. The truth is, she'll only be able to know she is in the presence of a law-abiding gun owner. She knows from first-hand experience that one can't know, until too late, that they are in the presence of a criminal with a gun. Furthermore, this is the second time that Hoover has overtly implied in the media that she believes companies should discriminate against CHL-holders in their hiring practices.

The Ft. Wayne News-Sentinel recently considered doing the same in Indiana, but had the good sense to poll their readers on the issue. After receiving 3000 letters opposing the plan (95% of all letters received on the subject), the newspaper backed down. They expressed shared concern with readers who warned of the potential to expose former victims of violence who have gone to great lengths to hide from their attackers, and with those who warned that the list would serve only to provide a convenient shopping list for would-be thieves.

Brown Publishing, the Ohio Newspaper Association, and at least some of its members, have no such respect for your opinion, for your privacy or for your safety.