Oregon sheriff seeks to withhold list of CHL holders

[seamusTX]

Newspapers in Oregon have been trying to get lists of CHL holders from county sheriffs. Some sheriffs have refused outright and are now tied up in court.

Oregon state law requires the disclosure of public records unless releasing the information would reveal a person's security measures or weaknesses.

The sheriff of Washington County, Oregon, is sending letters to 10,000 CHL holders in his county asking them if they obtained a CHL for security purposes. If they respond affirmatively, he will withhold their information.

http://www.oregonlive.com/washingtoncou ... ormat.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Washington County is west of Portland and contains a good chunk of Portland's and Beaverton's suburbs.

(This kind of thing can't happen in Texas because CHL records are confidential by state statute.)

- Jim

[barres]

Sounds to me like he is covering his bases and trying to legally keep CHL information confidential. I applaud him for doing the best he can in the face of the way their laws are apparently written and in the face of an apparent open records request. I further applaud the other sheriffs who just outright refused to provide the info.

Thank God Texas decided that that information should not be made public. God bless Texas !

[WarHawk-AVG]

A. What is it the newspapers right to post this information
B. Public information is still "confidential" information and isn't there a "need to know clause" associated with that level of information
C. Can they post the home address and phone numbers and personal emails and cell phones of those at the newspaper trying to attain this information...isn't that information "public" anyway?

There appears to be a heavy debate going on there as well

http://www.oregonconcealedcarry.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[seamusTX]

The "public's right to know" is pretty subjective, and what any particular person thinks should be public or private depends upon whose sacred cow is being slaughtered.

Some of the issues that are generally considered public are

• government meetings and operations except for national security
• the salaries of government officials and officers of publicly owned corporations
• crimes
• criminal proceedings in adult cases
• the ownership and amount of real estate tax paid on specific properties
• the marital problems and drinking habits of public officials
• vehicle registrations
• ownership of businesses

Some that are private (at least in Texas) are

• driver license information
• CHL information
• school records
• medical records
• juvenile criminal proceedings

It really comes down to who gets the ear of the legislature on a case-by-case basis.

I find it curious that the personal lives of professional athletes and everyone who has ever acted in a movie or on TV -- even if their career ended decades ago -- are consider fair game. But how often do you hear anything about the personal life of a newspaper editor or reporter?

- Jim

[WarHawk-AVG]

http://www.co.washington.or.us/sheriff/ ... cw_not.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I also have this if anyone wants to come up with a good reply to them that we all can flood those pinheads inboxes with

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like i said, using a basic online people search, like 90% of these peoples addresses and phone numbers are listed publicly.

Once again we have to bombard these idiots with emails enough to rattle their sponsors cages and ensure they DON'T try some underhanded tactic to expose gun owners confidential information

Can someone create a "generic" reply?

[seamusTX]

I want to say two cautionary things first:

Sending e-mail about an editorial position to a non-editorial staff member like a photographer or sports reporter is not productive. There are only a few people at a newspaper or TV stations who decide what goes into print or on the air: namely, the editors and publisher (publisher is a job title at a newspaper).

Second, there is a crime of e-mail harassment in many states. One e-mail per person is fine. A thousand e-mails from a thousand people is fine. But sending the same thing repeatedly from fake addresses is not.

I'm not implying that you would do that. I just don't know who might be reading this.

I wrote an essay that was published when this issue was being debated in Texas: http://www.texasshooting.com/TexasCHL_F ... f=7&t=7373" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Feel free to use it as a model. I do not want it copied wholesale.

- Jim