In response to the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings, one New York state newspaper featured the names and addresses of all pistol permit holders in three counties.
That won't be happening here in Connecticut because state law prohibits it, CT News Junkie reports.
For almost 20 years the information has been exempt from public disclosure, the website reports, after it was included as a trade-off in a bill that made it more difficult for convicted felons to buy guns.
In New York State, that information falls under that state's Freedom of Information laws, so the Journal News was able to obtain lists of individuals who legally hold gun permits. It published the names and addresses of those people, which resulted in an outcry from pro-gun supporters and residents alike.
In response, some circulated on blogs and on Facebook the names, home addresses and phone numbers of the Journal News editors and reporters involved in the story, including Editor Cyndee Royle, Publisher Janet Hasson and Reporter Dwight R. Worley.
They also posted pictures from the newspaper employee's Facebook pages showing their family members and the cars they drive.
Since the Dec. 14 shootings in Newtown, there has been an increase in the number of people looking to obtain a gun permit in Connecticut, the Register-Citizen reports. There's also been an unusually large increase in gun sales reported both in Connecticut and throughout the country, which many attribute to fears that President Obama and Congress will now enact tougher gun laws that could include a return of the assault rifle ban and a ban on high capacity magazines.
