On Media Blog Archives Select Date… December, 2015 November, 2015 October, 2015 September, 2015 August, 2015 July, 2015 June, 2015 May, 2015 April, 2015 March, 2015 February, 2015 January, 2015

'Journal News' hires armed security guards

The Journal News of West Nyack, N.Y., has hired armed security guards to defend its offices after receiving a torrent of phone calls and emails responding to the paper's publication of the names and addresses of area residents with pistol permits.

RGA Investigations, a private security company, "is doing private security at on location at the Journal News as a result of the negative response to the article," according to a police report first obtained by the Rockland County Times (Nanuet, N.Y.) and shared with POLITICO. The guards "are armed and will be on site during business hours through at least January 2, 2013."

Last month, in the wake of last month's elementary school shooting in Newtown, Conn., the Gannett-owned Journal News published interactive maps showing the names and addresses of pistol permit holders in New York's Westchester and Rockland counties. Conservatives and gun rights advocates publicly protested the paper's move; on Monday, the New York State Rifle & Pistol Association called for a nationwide boycott of the paper's advertisers, calling it a “wanton act” that “has put in harm's way tens of thousands of lawful license holders."

The Journal News continues to host the map on its website and has said that it will soon add a map listing all pistol permit holders in Putnam County.

According to the Clarkstown Police report, filed today, Journal News editor Caryn McBride had "previously reported a large amount of negative correspondence in response to the media outlet's publication of local gun permit holders." McBride shared one email with the police officer from "an unknown subject who wondered what McBride would get in her email now." The officer told McBride the email did not constitute an offense.

The Rockland County Times, a Journal News competitor, led its exclusive report citing the juxtaposition of targeting gun ownership while hiring armed guards.

"Guns are good for the goose but NOT for the gander," Dylan Skriloff, the Rockland County Times' associate publisher & editor-in-chief wrote.