TFA Opinion In Print

[Pat McGarrity]

http://suburbancommunitynews.com/articl ... 145283.txt

Thursday, November 12, 2009 4:02 PM CST

Dear Editor


From our readers

My .02 Editor:

Common sense and civil rights are supported in Tennessee's ninth largest city. Last night, the Bartlett Board of Mayor and Aldermen did not second a motion to vote on opting out of Carry Permit Holders being legally armed in Bartlett Parks. My sincere thanks to the majority of this board for their support of the will of their constituents and the Constittution.

It's been almost two months since the state law went into effect, and it has been legal for Carry Permit Holders to be armed in Bartlett Parks and what has happened? Nothing. Nothing negative to be sure. We may never know how many crimes may have already been prevented, perhaps just by the fact that predatory criminals have a safe working environment elsewhere, such as Memphis and Germantown. The responsible men and women who are the most law abiding group in the country, have passed FBI background checks, been trained and agreed to have their fingerprints on file with authorites, are not who anyone should be worried about.

Thanks to all of the TFA and NRA Members that contacted Bartlett Public officials, as well as all of you who took time to support our civil rights and public safety. The calls and e-mails supporting parks carry far outweighed the phobic minority of those that didn't. During the public hearing, we heard some of the most sincere, articulate and patriotic speakers and unlike our opponents, there were many more speakers supporting parks carry than time allowed during the hearing. One of the gun banners that did publicly testify was proven to be either lying, and/or parroting anti-gun propaganda from an anti-gun web site:

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2789

Because I have found gun rights advocates to be overwhelmingly polite and articulate, to the point where we most often verbally walk on eggshells, I was deeply offended by Alderman Elliot's emotional diatribe that she launched into when it was apparent that the majority of her constituents were not supporting the ban. It was beyond her just being an immature sore looser; she claimed she'd been threatened by Carry Permit Holders. First, anyone can claim to be anything in an e-mail, or call for that matter. Second, if there were threats, other than to vote her out of office, then that is a crime and I would expect for her to have shared the evidence of those prosecuted for such unacceptable threats. It's more likely that any threats would come from a gun banner claiming to be a Carry Permit Holder. As evidenced in the link above, we see that gun banners are not above lying, or at the very least, publically repeating lies as fact.

My question to the gun banners is; what did we ever do to you? I've tried it Alderman Elliot's way and have a prosthetic orbit (eye socket) to remind me of that. Plus, the memory of a shotgun being held to my head and being told I would be dead if I went to the police.

I'd stack the Bartlett Police Department up against any in the world, they do an excellent job and I have written the Mayor and Chief and told them so. However, no police department can act retroactively. Police are almost always reactive by necessity.

Besides being the correct Constitutional action taken in Bartlett, we are all safer with those of us that have taken responsibility for our own safety being able to enjoy the parks we pay for.


In Liberty,

Pat McGarrity
Director - Shelby County TFA


"Laws that forbid the carrying of arms ... disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes... Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man."


--Thomas Jefferson, Source: Cesare Beccaria, On Crimes and Punishment, quoted by Thomas Jefferson in Commonplace Book, 1774-1776