MAYVILLE – The Chautauqua County Legislature will be voting next week on a motion that would call on Albany to pass allow disallowing the public from knowing who has registered firearms in their communities. On Wednesday the county’s public safety committee discussed the motion, which is being sponsored by legislative chairman Jay Gould.
According to an article in today’s Post-Journal, the motion cited The Journal News, a newspaper based in Westchester County, which printed a map of names and addresses of pistol permit holders. The newspaper obtained the information through Freedom of Information Law filings. Since then, local governments have been calling for the state to no longer allow that type of information from getting into the public hands. Currently, a person who owns a firearm has to contact their county clerk and request that their name be omitted from any public listing.
Not all county lawmakers are in favor of the motion. Legislator William Coughlin (D-Fredonia) is quoted as saying that it would be unconstitutional to allow that type of information to be withheld from the public upon request, and went so far as to offer anyone present at the meeting $1,000 to point out where in the U.S. constitution says people have a right to privacy.
The motion was not voted on at the meeting. It will be discussed at the full legislature meeting April 24 and will need 17 votes to be passed.
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