Letter from Governor Bredesen and my reply
Posted: Thu May 20, 2010 5:22 amFrom: phil.bredesen@tn.gov
Sent: Wednesday, May 19, 2010 11:22 AM
To: benburke@bellsouth.net
Subject: Responding to your message
May 19, 2010
Dear Ben:
Thank you for your message about the "guns in bars" legislation. On May 18, 2010, I vetoed Senate Bill 3012. As I stated in my veto message of a similar piece of legislation last year, I believe a basic and effective rule of gun safety is one I was taught at a National Rifle Association-sponsored gun safety class almost 50 years ago: "Guns and alcohol don't mix." This legislation ignores that fundamental principle.
I am a strong supporter of the individual right to keep and bear arms, and I hold this right sacred as both an American and a Tennessean. I am a gun owner, and I exercise my rights as a hunter and in various other shooting activities. I value the constitutional right that allows me to protect my home and family. In Tennessee, this right has been exercised with reasonable common-sense rules.
Until last year, Tennessee long had prohibited the possession of firearms in bars and restaurants that served alcohol. The legislation passed last year removed this protection in a manner that I, along with many law enforcement officers and innumerable private citizens, believed to be reckless and lacking in basic safeguards to public safety.
A successful court challenge to last year's actions provided the General Assembly with a second opportunity to reconsider and adopt a more responsible approach to this issue. Instead, the General Assembly essentially re-passed that legislation in an even more expansive and dangerous form. For this reason, I could not sign the new measure into law.
Warmest regards,
Phil Bredesen
Dear Governor Bredesen,
Thankfully, you will not be running for governor again. You do not understand the proven fact that this legislation will prevent crime. Tennessee's handgun carry permit holders are not reckless and value safeguards to public safety. You were wrong last year, and you are wrong once again.
Sincerely,
Ben Burke
Sent: Wednesday, May 19, 2010 11:22 AM
To: benburke@bellsouth.net
Subject: Responding to your message
May 19, 2010
Dear Ben:
Thank you for your message about the "guns in bars" legislation. On May 18, 2010, I vetoed Senate Bill 3012. As I stated in my veto message of a similar piece of legislation last year, I believe a basic and effective rule of gun safety is one I was taught at a National Rifle Association-sponsored gun safety class almost 50 years ago: "Guns and alcohol don't mix." This legislation ignores that fundamental principle.
I am a strong supporter of the individual right to keep and bear arms, and I hold this right sacred as both an American and a Tennessean. I am a gun owner, and I exercise my rights as a hunter and in various other shooting activities. I value the constitutional right that allows me to protect my home and family. In Tennessee, this right has been exercised with reasonable common-sense rules.
Until last year, Tennessee long had prohibited the possession of firearms in bars and restaurants that served alcohol. The legislation passed last year removed this protection in a manner that I, along with many law enforcement officers and innumerable private citizens, believed to be reckless and lacking in basic safeguards to public safety.
A successful court challenge to last year's actions provided the General Assembly with a second opportunity to reconsider and adopt a more responsible approach to this issue. Instead, the General Assembly essentially re-passed that legislation in an even more expansive and dangerous form. For this reason, I could not sign the new measure into law.
Warmest regards,
Phil Bredesen
Dear Governor Bredesen,
Thankfully, you will not be running for governor again. You do not understand the proven fact that this legislation will prevent crime. Tennessee's handgun carry permit holders are not reckless and value safeguards to public safety. You were wrong last year, and you are wrong once again.
Sincerely,
Ben Burke