Haslam endorsing "CA" bashes gun owners again

[Pat McGarrity]

The anti-gun publication, the Memphis Communist Appeal,

http://www.communistappeal.com

that has endorsed Bill Haslam for governor, has yet again ramped up it’s anti-gun propaganda by participating in a poll that is likely to be an attempt to manufacture news, rather than report it.

The CA is extremely bitter and disturbed by the passage of this year’s Restaurant Bill. Restaurant owners may prohibit armed patrons, just like they have always been able to. Based on that decision, the armed citizens and supporters of gun rights may make their own decisions on where to do business.

You see, the CA doesn’t like Americans that take responsibility for their own safety, and that of their families. They “feel” better when people are dependent on everything from the government, especially the ability to stay alive.

What’s conveniently not reported is how the question was phrased, where the “voters” were they called and how they were selected.

If you are still subscribing to the CA, or know gun owners that are, you and/or they may want to consider if that is your/their best interest.

In Liberty,

Pat McGarrity
Director – Shelby County TFA










http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/20 ... er=popular


A law that allows handguns in bars and restaurants that serve alcohol is proving to be unpopular with Tennesseans.

Seven in 10 voters said they oppose the law passed earlier this year that lets holders of handgun-carry permits take their weapons into any establishment that sells alcohol. Supporters of the gun law say it will make the state safer, but voters said in interviews that the prospect of guns mixing with alcohol is too dangerous.

"No one wants them there," said Carol Yager, a Brentwood woman who took part in a poll last week by Mason-Dixon Research & Poling Inc. for the Tennessee Newspaper Network.

The findings match the results of earlier polls taken by Middle Tennessee State University and on behalf of the state tourism industry, both of which showed widespread opposition to the law. Nonetheless, state lawmakers twice passed measures permitting guns in bars and restaurants that serve alcohol in the last two years, both times over the veto of Gov. Phil Bredesen.

"You would think (legislators) would vote the way their constituents want," said Will Cheek, a Nashville attorney who led a successful legal challenge to the first of the two gun laws. "I think the legislators are out of touch with the people."

But Steve Frieler of Brighton is one of those surveyed who supports the law.

"It's my Second Amendment right and I don't want anyone to trample on my rights, any of them," said Frieler, who identified himself as an independent. "Criminals will always have guns. We have to be able to protect ourselves."

A statistically equal portion of men and women were against the gun law, and opposition was even across the state's three grand divisions.

Eighty-two percent of Democrats and 71 percent of independents were opposed to the gun law, and a majority of Republicans, 59 percent, were against it as well.

David Deckard, a 59-year-old autoworker from Lynn-ville, said the law simply does not fit modern Tennessee.

"We're not living back in the 1800s," he said. "It's not like we're a bunch of cowboys. ... They need to leave their guns in their cars."

One of the law's sponsors, state Rep. Curry Todd, R-Collierville, said the results were not convincing. He said pollsters should have pointed out that the law says people cannot drink alcohol while carrying their guns and can be pre-empted by restaurant owners who post a sign at their entrances barring handguns.

"You can get different poll results just based on how the question is proposed," he said. "I don't think it (the poll) is right. I think a majority of folks in the state of Tennessee don't have a problem with it."

Pollsters surveyed 625 registered and likely voters across Tennessee by telephone Monday through Wednesday of last week. The poll's margin of error is plus or minus 4 percentage points.

-- csisk@tennessean.com

Staff reporter Mike Mueller contributed to this story.

The Tennessee Newspaper Network is a coalition of the state's largest newspapers, including The Commercial Appeal.