Neo-Nazi landlord joins debate over Roanoke Times editorial

[gunsmith]

will somebody tell the Nazi that his "help" is neither wanted or required?
http://www.wdbj7.com/Global/story.asp?S=6229412

The controversial Roanoke landlord who operates the extreme website overthrow.com has joined the debate over a Roanoke Times editorial.

Neighbors of Roanoke Times editorial writer Christian Trejbal have received mailings from the American National Socialist Workers Party. The envelope includes a copy of the National Socialist magazine and a picture of Trejbal. The picture was headlined with the word "Warning" in large type.

Trejbal has been under fire since the newspaper posted an online database with the names and addresses of every concealed weapon permit holder in Virginia.

Bill White, the self-described commander of the ANSW, confirmed that the organization had mailed the envelopes to Trejbal's neighbors.

 

[gunsmith]

it seems as if a lot of folks don't like the cretin

I bet you he gets a ccw to protect him self!



Bomb squad called to inspect package at editorial writer's house
By SUE LINDSEY
Associated Press Writer
March 13, 2007
ROANOKE, Va. -- Extra police patrols were ordered Tuesday at the home of a newspaper editorial writer after a suspicious package was delivered there following a storm of criticism of a column he wrote about concealed weapons permits.

A state police bomb squad team inspected the package delivered to the Christiansburg home of Christian Trejbal and found no bomb, town police Lt. Mark Sisson said. Police cordoned off the residential street and advised neighbors to stay inside while a bomb-sniffing dog and X-ray technician inspected the package, he said.

The brown cardboard box about 15 inches by 15 inches was full of mailing labels similar to those used by mail delivery services, Sisson said. He said the package had been delivered by a DHL truck and left at the front door.

The lieutenant said he called for the bomb inspection at the request of Trejbal, who is with The Roanoke Times and based in the New River Valley.

"He said he didn't order the package and was suspicious of it," Sisson said. "In my opinion I thought it was the safest call."

Trejbal's column Sunday was accompanied by an online database that listed the names and addresses of more than 135,000 Virginians who are licensed to carry concealed weapons. The newspaper removed the database from its Web site Monday afternoon because of concern that some of the names should not be made public, president and publisher Debbie Meade said in an article published Tuesday.

The newspaper said hundreds of readers complained on its message board and to a gun-rights group that publishing the names of those with permits to carry concealed weapons violated the privacy of law-abiding citizens and gave potential criminals information that would help them find victims.

Some e-mails contained language that could be considered threatening, said Nan Mahone, promotions and community relations director for The Roanoke Times.

"Safety's a primary concern," she said, adding that newspaper officials were taking precautions.

Trejbal used the list of those with weapons permits to illustrate his column on Sunshine Week, a national initiative to promote the importance of open government and records.

Sisson said police will make extra patrols around Trejbal's house "until we feel there's no threat."

 

[Autolycus]

It is things like this that can only hurt our cause.

 

[gunsmith]

from the rotting roanoke times

Officials to consider closing records on gun permits
The panel is expected to form a work group to examine whether the General Assembly should restrict public access to concealed handgun information.

By Laurence Hammack
981-3239

A state senator who heads an open records council is calling for a study of whether the identities of Virginians who have permits to carry concealed handguns should remain public.

Sen. Edd Houck, a Spotsylvania County Democrat who chairs the state's Freedom of Information Council, made the request in the wake of controversy generated by The Roanoke Times.

Earlier this week, the newspaper published and then pulled from its Web site a database containing the names and addresses of about 135,000 state residents who have obtained court permission to carry concealed handguns.

Although the information is public record, hundreds of readers and permit holders have complained that making the data so easily accessible on the Internet invaded their privacy and could make them targets of crime.

House Majority Leader Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, who is the vice chairman of the FOI council, said other people -- himself included -- who don't carry concealed handguns could also be put at risk.

"Maybe I need to be on that list," Griffith said. "I'm such a strong gun advocate that I thought I was safe because people just assumed that I had one. Now they know that I don't."

The council is expected to form a work group when it meets Monday in Richmond. After researching the issue and holding public hearings, the group will make recommendations that could lead next year's General Assembly to restrict or eliminate access to concealed handgun information.

"We're going to try to make sure that we protect folks," Griffith said.

One proposal is that Virginia follow the lead of Vermont, the only state that does not require its residents to obtain a permit to carry a concealed handgun. "There are people advocating that," Griffith said, adding that he was not sure how far that idea might go.

The issue hit a flash point Sunday, when the database was posted on roanoke.com to supplement an opinion piece about open government by editorial writer Christian Trejbal.

As angry reaction flooded the newspaper's phone lines and Web site, president and publisher Debbie Meade announced Monday that the database was being taken down out of concerns that Virginia State Police, who released the information at the paper's request, might have included the names of crime victims in violation of state law.

The next day, state police said that was not the case. In fact, the state Freedom of Information Advisory Council issued an opinion in 2001 that found police are within their legal rights to release such data.

But the information remains off line as the debate continues.

Houck said he decided to ask for the study after citizens called his office to complain about the newspaper. While it was not a great number of calls, "the intensity was pretty strong," he said.

"This is one of those classic issues where you've got personal privacy rights bumping up against the public's right to know."

 

[Marko Kloos]

Wouldn't it be just biting irony if that little hack's misstep prompted the VA legislature to pass Vermont-style carry? Talk about unintended consequences...

 

[El Tejon]

Marko, you can it ironic, I call it Cosmic Justice.