Shelby County Reply to TPSC Letter

[Pat McGarrity]

March 15, 2008

Tennessee Public Safety Coalition
530 Church St.
Suite 504
Nashville, TN 37219

Dear Gentlemen:

Those of you that know me know my tremendous respect and appreciation for those of you in law enforcement. I proudly voted for Sheriff Luttrell and District Attorney General Gibbons and would have voted for Director Godwin, if I were a Memphis resident and his position were not an appointed one. That is why I was so disappointed to see your opposition to our common sense based Restaurant Carry Bill. While I fully support your right to express your opinion, I’m not aware of any incident involving a carry permit holder in any of the 34 states that have this provision. Are you?

The last law enforcement representative that I’m aware of to testify against such a bill in Tennessee was MPD Deputy Chief Jim Tusant, testifying for Rep. Henri Brooks in 2005. When asked by Rep. Jerome Cochran to give an example to substantiate his opposition to the bill, Deputy Chief Tusant could not give any evidence. He just felt that he didn't like it. You are all professionals gentlemen, that deal in facts, not feelings.

The fact is; guns locked in cars at restaurant parking lots are where criminals shop for their guns, putting both the public and law enforcement in greater danger. As another matter of fact, Deputy Chief Tusant has had several of his own weapons stolen from his patrol car, in the city garage on Washington across from police headquarters. Being where so many police park, one would think that this might be a fairly secure area, more-so than your average restaurant parking lot.

It is also a fact that criminals determined to commit armed robbery and other violent felonies, often in the parking lots of restaurants, are not inhibited by restrictions on where they carry their stolen guns. All of you are intelligent and familiar with how criminals operate. You could not have achieved your levels of success and not know these facts.

Front line cops that I have spoken with support this bill. To quote one: “Whether the TFA gets the bill it wants or not, there will STILL be shootings in bars. The only change that would legally occur is that non-drinking, CCW holders will be able to protect themselves in these often-violent places who portray themselves as harmless places to visit and spend money.”

Your statement about introducing guns to public parks was particularly condescending, insulting and nonsensical. Who is protected by gun restrictions on carry permit holders in the parks we tax-payers pay for? Are we to believe that responsible citizens with carry permits are safe while driving to a park, but loose their minds and become crazed killers the second they arrive there? In just one example, on January 23rd of this year, in a park in my neighborhood in Bartlett, two bicyclists were attacked and robbed by a gang of ten thugs in the middle of the day. The law prohibited the victims from having the tools to protect themselves, therefore enabling criminal predators to have access to easy prey. Not all attackers are bipeds. Last year, tragically, an Ohio family vacationing here in Tennessee had their young daughter killed by a bear. You mentioned that passage of such legislation would not be good for Tennesseans or our visitors. Do you believe the victims in these two cases would agree with you?

As you know, the Restaurant Carry Bill has passed the Senate, again, this year. The actions taken on this bill will tell us if the House of “Representatives” is indeed that, or not. Their constituents in the House have asked for this bill to be passed, however, the will of the people has not been done yet. Speaker Naifeh has had similar legislation killed in committee every time it passed the Senate in the past, not allowing an up or down floor vote in the House. It’s long overdue for this to be put to a recorded vote and the voters will let their “Representatives” know if they are representing them adequately, or not, this fall. Are you imploring Speaker Naifeh to kill this bill in committee again without a floor vote by our representatives?

Please know that you are always welcome at the Shelby County, TFA. We would appreciate the opportunity to hear more about your views on this legislation and other topics.

Respectfully,

Pat McGarrity
Director – Shelby County, TFA
P.O. Box 342508
Bartlett, TN 38184-2508

Cc: Speaker Jimmy Naifeh
Cc: Tennessee General Assembly