The newspaper recently posted a that allows anyone to see who has a concealed gun license in any Tennessee town or zip code (visitors to the site can also search by name.) Not surprisingly, the service was blasted by many readers, and not just those whose names appeared in the database. Many saw it as an invitation to criminals to steal firearms from the gun owners, or thought the names were posted as part of an anti-gun rights agenda. Angry letters and online comments attacked the paper and its editors.

"This past week it has been ugly at the newspaper," Chris Peck wrote in a defending the database. "By late last week, Commercial Appeal executives were receiving as many as 600 e-mails a day, along with dozens of phone calls at home, at work and on their cell phones. Maps to their houses, with ominous warnings, had been posted online."

The anger highlights how the Web can create a conflict between transparency in government and individuals' right to privacy. If it's in the state's interest to track who carries a concealed weapon, then it is also in the state's interest to respect the privacy of those who register legally. (Just to clarify, I am not a Tennessee resident nor am I a gun owner. I'm generally in favor of strict gun-control laws.)

The Commercial Appeal is a media company, not a government agency. But according to Peck's article, "The list came from the Tennessee Department of Safety and is available to anyone who wants it, simply by contacting the agency's office." The list isn't immediately available on the . One wonders how angry people would be if it were posted online.