Adding Insult to Injury: Sidney Daily News publishes more CHL-holders' names

1:32pm Saturday, July 17, 2004

July 15, 2004
Sidney Daily News

18 more concealed weapons permits issued in Shelby County

Eighteen more permits to carry concealed weapons have been issued by Shelby County Sheriff Kevin O'Leary.

Sixteen of the permits were issued to Shelby County residents, one to an Auglaize County man and one to a Champaign County man.

Those who received permits in Shelby County, and their dates of birth as provided by law, are:

[Names redacted out of respect for what is left of these citizens' privacy]

Commentary:
Not only is this newspaper insulting the CHL-holders named, and many readers who have written in opposition to publishing these names, they aren't even striving for journalistic accuracy:

Ohio issues licenses to carry concealed handguns, not "permits to carry concealed weapons".

Since Jeffrey Billiel, SDN editor, claims he publishes these names because "there are many people in the community who feel they have a right to know who may be carrying a concealed weapon", why is it that the paper hasn't published even one letter from a local citizen supporting their activities?

If the paper is motivated by safety concerns (rather than anti-gun bias), and since infinitely more injuries and deaths occur at the hands of new driviers than CHL-holders, why doesn't the Sidney Daily News publish the names of all newly-licensed drivers?

The Sidney Daily News is a Brown Publishing newspaper, and the editor is Jeff Billiel, (937)498-5962.

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