Must have been a low level reporter. Update to this story.

Via FOX News

A national newspaper chain never intended to create a multi-state database of gun owners with permits allowing them to carry concealed weapons according to its top executive, who told FoxNews.com a “poorly crafted” internal memo erroneously indicated such an idea was being planned.

The memo — sent by a top content editor to various editors at Civitas Media, which owns about 100 newspapers in 11 states, with 1.6 million in total circulation — laid out a plan for an enterprise project that would use public information requests to establish the database. But Civitas President and CEO Michael Bush, in an email after FoxNews.com reported the story on Friday, stated that the memo should not have been sent and that the notion of such a project had been “rejected” upon consideration.

“Civitas Media never had any plans or intentions of publishing in print or online lists of holders of ‘conceal and carry’ permits,” Bush wrote to FoxNews.com. “Nor will Civitas Media develop databases of permit holders. A poorly crafted internal memo meant to highlight editorial discussions and planning incorrectly indicated that such a database was being planned; it has been considered and rejected.”

The Jan. 19 memo raised the prospect of a much larger version of a controversial project carried out by in 2012 by a New York state newspaper that included an online map identifying gun owners in two counties by name and address.

The aborted Civitas project would have “examine[d] the explosion of ‘conceal and carry’ gun permits across the U.S.,” wrote Jim Lawitz, Civitas’ director of content, in an e-mail first obtained by the Buckeye Firearms Association. “Through public records act requests, we will attempt to build state-by-state databases that list those who have the right to carry a concealed weapon.”

Lawitz downplayed the email when reached on Friday, saying the company had “no plans to publish” any lists or databases.