Bang! Editor fired after publishing gun-owner map

The Journal News of New York published an interactive map of permitted gun owners.

The editor of the New York newspaper that created a furor by publishing the names and addresses of gun-permit owners suddenly is out of a job.

According to the Rockland Times, a competitor to the Gannett-owned Rockland County Journal News, editor Caryn McBride is among the casualties of a recent purge at the Journal News.

The report said 17 journalists were among a total of 26 staff members at the Journal News who were let go.

It was the Journal News that in 2012 published the names and addresses of all gun owners in Westchester and Rockland counties under the headline "Where are the gun permits in your neighborhood?"

The Times said police reports showed McBride had called the Clarkstown Police Department to notify them of a flood of angry phone calls and letters the newspaper received after it published the map.

The Rockland editor said she felt threatened by the complaints, but local police didn't believe there was a credible threat. McBride and other executives then decided to hire armed guards to protect their property, the Times reported, "causing an uproar due to the perceived hypocrisy of the avowed anti-gun editors hiring gun-toting men."

The layoffs were announced by the newspaper's CEO, Janet Hasson.

The fallout from the decision to publish the names and addresses of gun-permit holders continued for weeks.

Two months ago, the White Plains-based newspaper admitted that the information it published was badly outdated. The paper acknowledged many people had a dot on their house, indicating there was a gun permit at that address, even though they didn't own a gun.

The responses to the publication included the publication of a map showing "Where are the Journal News employees in your neighborhood?" The Times said a Clarkstown police report confirmed that armed security guards were hired for the Journal News.

The Times also reported that shortly after the publication of the map, authorities said burglars entered the home of one of the gun owners identified by the newspaper, and a gun safe that was on the premises was damaged in a robbery attempt.