Guns and Picnics

[Pat McGarrity]

I want to sincerely thank Shelby County Chapter members, Darrell "Alpha Patriot"Carden and our Marine friend, Curt Ullery, for working very hard on this successful event. (just as they did at the St. Jude Shoot) Although it was a bit of work, I enjoyed it very much and believe we are making a difference for the better. Thanks again!

Also, thanks are in order for Darrell's after action report below. We had more positive interest, sold more TFA apparel, and more people take TFA membership aps, at the Bartlett Celebration, than ALL the gun shows I have ever worked, combined! In my opinion, we should look at having a presence at more events like this.

The good people of Tennessee, and all of America, are looking for someone that actually wants to help them be safer, and protect their Right to protect their familles. They are tired of their "public servants" spending their hard earned money on patronizing "crime studies" that wouldn't publicize the truth, even if they stumbled across it by mistake. We made it clear that TFA protects their Right to Keep, Bear and Wear arms, in Tennessee.

In Liberty,

Patriot Pat McGarrity
Director - Shelby County, TFA

* Note to Lisa Guthrie - Please forward the e-mail addresses of new Shelby County Chapter members to me.
Guns and Picnics
It's a shame that we have to organize to protect ourselves from our elected servants.
- Pat McGarrity, Director of the Shelby County chapter of the
Tennessee Firearms Association


I've worked gun shows before, trying to talk up the importance of protecting our rights by confronting politicians in Nashville. The response you get from these "gun friendly" citizens is amazing.

It's as if you are an undesirable intrusion on what is supposed to be a pleasant "guys day out" — a macho shopping experience tarnished by someone trying to talk about something as mundane as legislators and God-given rights. Why think about anti-gun hoplophobes when you are in a building the size of a warehouse crammed full of cool stuff like guns and nice people who think just like you?

They don't want to be reminded that guns and politics go together like bare feet and dog poo. It isn't pleasant, but somehow it seems that the one always finds the other.

Yesterday I worked the Bartlett Days Celebration, a day-long event held in a park with bands, craft booths, face painting, carnival rides, funnel cakes, antique cars and hot rods. A family event as American as apple pie.

And there was us: three guys willing to give up time on a Saturday to spread the word that there is an organization that fights for rights in Nashville just like the NRA does in Washington.

The day was amazingly, stunningly successful.

We talked to those who had permits and those who carried without a permit because they feared for their safety. We talked to hunters and sportsmen. We talked to single women that were just as passionate about carrying self-protection as any one of us. We talked to women with families that missed their guns, now tucked away in safes waiting until the kids were old enough to be trusted around them. We talked to whites, African-Americans and Mexicans. We talked to salesmen, housewives, programmers and retirees. We talked to a parole officer who told us that he (a man who daily confronts violent offenders) was not allowed to carry on the job.

We talked until our voices were hoarse and we could barely rasp out the answers to the barrage of questions that never stopped coming.

What is the TFA? Does the NRA have a presence in Nashville? Where can I go shoot my shotgun? I carry in church, is that OK? What other states allows me to carry when I travel? I just moved here, can I use my out-of-state permit?

And the most common question of all: where can I get a carry permit?

The concern over rising crime rates and interest in self-protection was a theme common to all ages, all races, both genders.

We didn't push our message; we didn't have to. We had people going out of their way just to stop by and tell us that they agreed with what we stood for. We had people stop and talk to us for a while, then go to get their spouse so they could talk to us too.

We didn't stand in the midway and hand out pamphlets; we just gave them to those who expressed a need for information or an interest in joining. And we must have given out forty, maybe fifty or more pamphlets.

If only ten percent of those end up joining, it will have been worth it.

Heck, it was worth it anyway. Because we were there, a couple-hundred citizens now know that the Tennessee Firearms Association exists and fights for their rights.

In fact, it was worth it when every politician, elected or hopeful, stopped by to say hello. I talked to Congressman Marsha Blackburn when she stopped by with a small entourage. I spoke to state representative and senate hopeful Paul Stanley. I talked to Ron Lollar, school board member and candidate for state house. To state house hopeful Jim Coley (and his charming wife Paula). To retiring state rep Bubba Pleasant, who is running for Bartlett City Alderman. And to the incumbent that he is challenging, Mike Morris.

It's good to be a civil rights organization that attracts the attention of every politician. It means you are effective.

And yesterday, we added more voices to outrage.

It was a very good day.