E-mail to Christian Tejbal, Re: CCW Editorial

[Dr4Pcs]

Mr. Trejbal,


I am so outraged at your editorial that for the first time in many years, words fail me. As an individual who is employed as an investigator for a local law firm, I fully appreciate the importance of public records. But just because a record is open to the public, it should be published? I think not. You published my name, address and phone number? What the bloody hell were you thinking? You, personally, put myself, my family and my property at risk. You, personally, painted a bullseye on my front door. You, personally, made available to the public my personal information and the fact that there are valuable items available to whomever wants them in my home. Namely, my firearms. And whatever else they find, of course. You, however, gave them the reason to break in.


But I can hear you saying, “It was a statewide database, the chances that someone accessed your name is extremely slim!”


Immaterial. It was there.


Are you married, Mr. Trejbal? Do you have children? What would your response be to someone posting your wife’s name and place of employment online? Or perhaps your children’s names, schools and pictures? All of this is information readily available to someone who knows where to look.

A different issue? No, not in the least.


Do you begin to see my point? Do you even care?


Whatever your reaction to this email, and the thousands of others I’m sure you’ve received, do not wrap yourself in the self-righteous feeling of “I’m just doing my job” or “This response proves that I’ve touched a nerve”.


You have done nothing to be proud of. You have accomplished nothing.


And as for your “unbiased” stance on gun ownership and/or concealed carry.

Quote: “This is not about being for or against guns. There are plenty of reasons people choose to carry weapons: fear of a violent ex-lover, concern about criminals or worry that the king of might try to get into your house.”

I’m sorry, the king of EnglandEngland? This glib, tongue-in-cheek comment pretty effectively throws your impartiality out the window. Or are you perhaps implying that all concealed carry permit holders are delusional, paranoid personalities?

Quote: “Local celebrities generally don't carry, but at least a half dozen elected officials do. I'll leave it to readers to figure out which ones so you can avoid annoying them at meetings.“

Avoid annoying them? So, all concealed carry permit holders are now not only delusional and paranoid, but also unpredictably, dangerously violent as well.

So please tell me, Mr. Trejbal, did this condition arise out of my wish to carry a firearm, or was it transferred to me with the physical possession of my permit.

Please tell me, I’d really like to know. You could save me a huge expense at a psychiatrist’s office.

I, and my gun-toting brothers and sisters, are not the ones you need to worry about. We have gone through the time, expense, training and inconvenience of carrying our handguns legally. We have gone out of our way to obey the law, and to prove that we are responsible, gun-owning citizens. We are the ones you want near you when something smelly hits the proverbial fan.

In the past, I have stared down the barrel of a gun in someone else’s hand. In the past, I have been shot at. In the past, I have stared at a large hole in a brick wall where my head was a split second before.

I will continue to carry, and pray to God that I NEVER need it. But I will not EVER be in that kind of situation again without the wherewithal to defend myself and my family.

Paranoid? So be it.

Mr. Trejbal, I cannot even begin to express my contempt for you, and your editorial.

I am a law abiding, peace loving citizen. I deserve my privacy, no less than you, or anyone else. And yes, I carry a gun.

With utter contempt,

Chris Jones
Lynchburg, VA

e-mailed to christian.trejbal@roanoke.com

[robinsre]

First and foremost let me say that this is an exceptional piece. Reporters and journalists have become too opinionated, too high, and too mighty lately.

They hide behind the guise of freedom of the press and make available information that is dangerous to our personal security, and occasionally even our national security.

Obviously, this man is a fool and a coward or else he would have published HIS name, address, phone number and the latest expensive pieces of equipment he has lying around his house.

Now the only part I would be even remotely worried about is the following :

Originally Posted by Dr4Pcs

Are you married, Mr. Trejbal? Do you have children? What would your response be to someone posting your wife’s name and place of employment online? Or perhaps your children’s names, schools and pictures? All of this is information readily available to someone who knows where to look.

I'm not a lawyer, and I don't have an infinite knowledge of criminal or civil law, but one thing I do know is that hyper-liberal crackpots like this joker tend to interpret EVERYTHING as a threat.

He obviously has the biased pre-conceived notion that you're some sort of gun-toting maniac and I have no doubt that he may drag this information before either the public in his hackneyed news-paper, or to the local police force crying for help from those who *oh my God* carry guns!

If I were you I would consult an attorney and discuss this matter with him/her.

You may also want try to sit down and schedule an appointment with the local editor in cheif or high ranking official at the paper in question. Explain why you feel you were wounded and treated unjustly in an unfair and biased piece, explain the personal security issues associated with such a publication, drop the "infringement upon your right to privacy and other civil rights" bomb a few times, ask politely for an apology for yourself and the other law abiding citizens that carry and perhaps a chance to write your own pro-ccw editorial once in the paper (sure it's a longshot but who knows).

- Ryan

[leeindy]

bravo. i am not so elegant i just called him a dirty name under my breath.

[Dr4Pcs]

robinsre,

I thought of that, but unfortunately after I sent the e-mail.
However, I admit to my mistakes. The e-mail was immediately followed by the following.

Quote:

"Mr. Trejbal

Upon re-reading my prior e-mail, I have realized that one paragraph in particular is open to misinterpretation.

Quote: “Are you married, Mr. Trejbal? Do you have children? What would your response be to someone posting your wife’s name and place of employment online? Or perhaps your children’s names, schools and pictures? All of this is information readily available to someone who knows where to look.
A different issue? No, not in the least.”

Please do not interpret this as threatening in any way, I merely wished to illustrate my point that not all publicly available information should be made public.

I, for one, would never publish such information about your family, or anyone else’s.

Please accept my apology if these statements were misinterpreted.>>

Chris Jones"

leeindy,

I did too, still am. But I wanted my e-mail to be read, and not just discarded because of ranting and raving. Thank you, though.

[grahamstein]

Wow look at that, he has you apologizing to him already. Way to stand firm! Just kidding, its just that the same type of person that will take that as a threat, will be glad to sue you over it.

What happened to the good old fabled society made up of Real Men? Everywhere i look now all i see is self-involved, self-important sheep that think they are better than everyone else. This country makes me sick sometimes. And Mr. Trejbal is a perfect example.

[KingofHearts]

Brilliant, A very well worded piece. I hope he actually reads it and lets it sink in. Im sure he has 100s on his desk