Now Rockland County pistol permit holders can just say no. Or at at least they can officially request that their personal information remain exempt from public disclosure.

After public upheaval and outcry following The Journal News’ December article that included an online version with interactive map of Westchester and Rockland pistol permit holders, the New York State Legislature took action. The LoHud article created intense blow-back for the Gannett-owned publication, with many exhorting that the map criminalized legal gun owners and put current and former law enforcement officers at risk. The story added to the post-Newton, CT national gun control debate and brought fierce criticism aimed at The Journal News — the newspaper briefly hired armed guards for its Rockland and Westchester headquarters, and Journal News Publisher Janet Hasson hired guards for her home.

The interactive map also provided the curious public information about gun ownership in local neighborhoods. Sloatsburg was littered with the blue dots that signified permit holders. Dylan Skriloff, editor and associate publisher of the Rockland County Times, which originally first reported on the gun map, said that the story generated more than 2 million page views for LoHud online, while the RCT site experienced nearly 300,000 hits on its breaking story.

On Jan. 15, NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed into law the New York Secure Ammunition and Firearms Enforcement Act of 2013, or  NY SAFE Act , which included a provision that limits the state records law to protect handgun owners from being identified publicly. The Journal News officially took down the map Jan. 18 as a result of the new state law.

Friday the opt out form was made available to New York State Police and caused a rush of interest at county clerk offices throughout the region. The form includes several categories that a permit holder can check off to request approval to keep their permit application or license information private.

Opt out options include: matters of personal safety or endangerment related to information disclosure due to a person being an active or retired police officer, which also includes spouses, domestic partners or household members of people in those categories.

It’s not clear at this time if all applicants will be granted approval for the opt out option. The NY Safe Act itself is not without controversy as it grants extensive powers to the state, including preemptive, warrant less seizure of a person’s firearms, under particular circumstances, as well as issues of various ammunition that has been declared illegal.

The first legal challenge to the act is due in court at the end of next week.