On Nov. 30, 2009, the Bloomington Herald-Times annouced: “This week, HeraldTimesOnline.com will launch its new gun permit database. You’ll be able to search gun permit records by county, city or town and street.”

The Indianapolis Star followed with a modified catalog of permit holders based on Indiana ZIP codes but excluding street and address information.

The Indianapolis Star listed its searchable database of law-abiding carry permit holders in the “Public Safety” section of the paper’s Web site, which also includes: “State sex offender registry,” “Criminal history searches,” and “Inmate locator.” The Indianapolis Star editors believe it is a “public safety” concern for people to know how many law-abiding handgun-carry permit holders live near them and put the list with convicted criminals and sex offenders.

The Bloomington Herald-Times claimed no anti-gun bias: “Our purpose was to provide public information we believed people would be interested in …we don’t believe we are treating them like criminals,” said Bob Zaltsberg, Herald-Times editor. However, the Herald-Times originally listed its database link in its “Crimes” section, according to National Rifle Association reports.

Both gun owners and non-gun owners were upset that anyone – especially criminals – would be able to identify which residents have handgun-carry permits and which do not.

The outrage sparked fast response from the Indiana General Assembly. Rep. Peggy Welch, D-Bloomington, authored HB 1068, which restricts access to gun-permit information and, “only if all personal information that could disclose the identity of any person who holds a license to carry a handgun has been removed from the general information.” The bill passed the Indiana House 85-11 and recently became law.

The Indianapolis Star quotes Welch: “It wasn’t just people who owned guns. It was people who didn’t own guns and said, ‘I don’t like the idea that somebody can know I don’t have a permit, which may make them think that I don’t have a gun and come and rob me.’ ”

The NRA had this to say about the Bloomington Herald-Times: “The editors do not care that some rural or suburban streets have only a few houses, so listing a street with five homes and four permit holders provides gun thieves with a shopping list of homes to rob. On the flip side, the editors do not care that a street with no permit holders also informs criminals which homeowners are likely to have no method of self-defense, making them easy target victims.”

Based on the overwhelming and bipartisan support for Indiana HB 1068, the Herald-Times’ statements defending its decision to publicize carry-permit data fell on deaf ears, and identifying information on Indiana’s handgun-carry permits is now restricted such that personal information on handgun-carry-permit holders will remain private.

Once again, the Indiana General Assembly is to be commended for passing common-sense gun laws and Gov. Mitch Daniels for signing them into law.