Private securityNewspaper hires armed guards to watch editorial headquarters

Published 4 January 2013

A newspaper in Rockland County, New York offered its readers a map on its Web site which showed the names and addresses of all gun permit holders in Rockland and Westchester counties; worried about an angry reaction to the map, the newspaper hired private security guards to watch over its West Nyack headquarters

According to a Clarkstown police report issued on 28 December 2012, the Journal News has hired armed security guards to man their Rockland County headquarters in West Nyack.

The Rockland Times reports that On 23 December 2012, the Journal News published a map containing names and addresses of all pistol permit holders in Rockland and Westchester counties. Journal News Rockland editor Caryn McBride said she was alarmed by the “negative correspondence,” which consisted of numerous angry phone call and e-mails to the Journal News office.

McBride filed at least two reports with Clarkstown police because of these perceived threats, but the department did not find them to be serious. In one report, McBride told police she was worried because an e-mail writer wondered “what McBride would get in her mail now.”

Police said the e-mail “did not constitute an offense” and that there was no actual threat in the e-mail.

With staff concerned about their safety, the Journal News decided to hire security staff from RGA Investigations to provide armed security. Richard Ayoob, the administrator of RGA, told Clarkstown police last week that there were no problems at the Journal News location despite the backlash.

According to the editors, knowing where guns are in their area is in the public interest. In addition, the paper has taken a strong position in favor of gun control. 

In response to the backlash, the executive board of the Journal News decided to “stick to their guns” and not take down the map. The newspaper also said it would be adding a map of all the pistol owners in Putnam County as well, but Putnam County officials said they will not comply with the paper’s request for the names and addresses of permit owners.

New York State Senator Greg Ball has introduced legislation to keep permit and gun records unavailable to the public and Rockland County legislators will soon introduce a bipartisan-sponsored resolution with similar intentions.