In a “Stupid is as Stupid Says” moment an editorial over on Quad City Online has come out in favor of the Progressive Liberal Legislative Activism that Illinois State Police be required to make the normally private information about who has obtained a firearm owner identification card, available to anyone that requests such information. I have never made it a secret that I don’t own a gun, I have never owned any actual gun other than a BB gun when I was five years-old, nor do I foresee me running out and making a purchase of a gun. Yet I emphatically disagree with their editorial thinking that it is okay for Big Brother government to distribute this personal information to anyone whom requests it. I don’t think the Government has any business releasing any personal information such as firearm ID cardholders to outsiders, anymore than I think they should be collecting, then releasing any personal information. It should not be mine or anyone else’s business – if the editors of The Rock Island Argus/Moline Dispatch has went out and obtained a firearms card so they could purchase a Dirty Harry model 44 Magnum anymore than if he or she had ordered the latest lifelike Jenna Jameson sex-doll with triple-entry, multi-speed vibration with remote control or a Golden Jack Rabbit Vibrator with seven levels of vibration, six rotating speeds and G-Spot attachments. It is all private information that should stay PRIVATE!
The Dispatch/Argus editors quickly dismiss the idea that criminals would seek to collect such information. I disagree with that reasoning also. I do agree that an average criminal would probably not seek such information personally – it is highly unlikely that they need to would do so. Their are people that do collect credit card information and numbers and then turn around and sell it to the criminal community. It is highly likely that a database on firearm card holders made readily available by the State, would offer a profitable opportunity to those personal information theft types of criminal activities. Probably not so much as selling out information to criminals to avoid houses with guns available. But that type of information would offer a great database opportunity to make it easy to crosscheck the information the State has with any information they could steal from store weapons purchases. That would be a goldmine to those thieves that specialize in weapons theft. Not only would that type of information put the weapons purchaser at risk from thieves; it could also help make stolen weapons more readily available on the streets.
The Dispatch/Argus bases their approval of compromising personal information required by government edict by inferring that the major disapproval of the idea is based on unfounded fears and that the release of such information couldn’t really offer up any personal harm. Huh -they must live in a different world than the rest of us! First off fear is a good emotion that is there to protect an individual from stumbling into harms way. And very often those fears are based on past experiences. We live in a high-tech communication world where collected information -whether for good purposes or bad purposes- can be distributed quickly. It is often done so regularly, The Dispatch/Argus editors should understand this – especially if they bothered to count the Spam that accumulates in their customers E-Mail boxes – last time I checked my Spam folder it contained over five thousand spam messages for the month. Or at more serious looks – Obama-worshiping SEIU union thugs used gathered personal information attempted to harass and terrorize a family – and instead wound up terrorizing a young kid home alone in their residence, because the SEIU thugs did not like the father of the family. In another recent Dispatch/Argus story they told of how a pervert had used personal information gathered on social media to persuade mothers to commit sexual perversions with their children. And it has not been that long since an adult woman harassed a young East Coast teen on Social media formats – until that teen killed herself. So I do not need editors of the Dispatch/Argus telling me how we should not fear information that gets distributed freely to any Tom-Dick-or Harry! Any personal information made available by any means can be misused by criminals or even activists seeking to pressure other faction. It is done so regularly.
I could probably spend endless hours thinking of more ways that criminals could misuse this type of information. But perhaps the biggest worry might not come from criminals but everyday John and Jane Doe individuals seeking to further their activist cause or seeking to harm others. No in my opinion the government has no business collecting and then redistributing such information to anyone – other than law enforcement agencies and only as necessary. the editors staff must be living in a different world than the real one. For in this real world well-meaning people as well as criminals do bad things with obtained personal information everyday!
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