Privacy forms for N.Y. gun owners available Friday

Joseph Spector, Gannett | USATODAY

ALBANY, N.Y. -- Pistol-permits owners in New York will be able to opt out of having their information made public starting Friday, New York State Police said.

Forms for gun owners will be available at county clerks or sheriff's departments, depending on a resident's home address.

"The opt-out form is a simple document that the statute directs the superintendent of the State Police to approve," State Police spokeswoman Kristin Lowman said in an email to Gannett's Albany Bureau. "It will be available to county clerks as of February 15 to assist them in complying with their FOIL obligations under state law."

As part of a sweeping gun-control law adopted in New York last month, gun-permit holders can elect to keep their information, such as name and address, private. If they do not fill out the form, the information would be public under the state's Freedom of Information law.

The opt-out clause was approved after the (Westchester, N.Y.) Journal News, a Gannett Co. Inc. publication, sparked outrage for publishing an interactive map of pistol-permit holders in Westchester and Rockland counties in December. After the law was passed, the newspaper removed the data from its website.

Clerks said they would take steps to ensure that pistol-permit owners have a variety of ways to fill out the form. Some will mail them to pistol-permit holders, make them available online and provide them in the clerk's office.

Monroe County Clerk Cheryl Dinolfo said this week that her office has created an online registry for people who want to have the form emailed to them when it becomes available.

"We are doing everything we can to make it easier for our customers to navigate the provisions of the state's new gun law and this online registry will make sure permit holders receive the 'Opt-Out' privacy form as soon as the State Police make it available," Dinolfo said in a statement. "Customers will have the convenient option of printing the form at home, completing it and mailing it back to the County Clerk's Office."

Westchester County Clerk Tim Idoni said he plans to mail the form to every permit holder in the county to ensure they have an opportunity to participate. He said the county has about 17,000 permit holders. He said he expected strong participation in the program, particularly after the Journal News flap.

Judges will have to sign off on the forms, and Idoni said he suggested to the court that they add more staff to handle the expected influx of forms.

"I think these things are going to come in fast and furious," Idoni said.

Spector writes for Gannett's Albany (N.Y.) Bureau