Tennessee Firearms Assoc. Inc.

Is there time to get this passed and into the Governor's hands prior to the end of the session?

Who is the sponsor in the Senate, is there anything we can do to push this?

Senator Norris has it.

I think there is an effort pending to get it pushed through before year end but its going to be close. There are several organizations that want the database to remain available because they want it for purposes of contacting permit holders directly (next year is an election year....) although they do agree that the database should be prohibited from public publishing. The problem that they are trying to figure out is can it be made available but prohibit its public printing? What they are looking at is the privacy issues of getting voter rolls (which you can do) to see if it can be applied to the permit holder database.

Would seem to me that if the organization desirous of getting in touch with the permit holders was actually worthy of participation by that group, and if their service to that base were truly advantageous to it, then the holders would be contacting them????

Perhaps, but there are lot of lazy and misinformed gun owners in TN. Sometimes, you have to push the information to them.

this is school yard tactics, why dont you like me anymore, it has nothing to do with the facts, as it should, this is grocery store news rag propaganda,trying to incite the misguided citizenry.look up the facts Mr. reporter as they relate to the importance of guns in the hands of the law abiding citizenry, you might just find you owe your first amendments rights to the original law abiding hell givers who gave you a free nation, when the government and media fear the law abiding there is tyranny afoot. put that in your pipe and smoke the rag you write.

Quote:
"Could it be that Phil Williams is deliberately trying to misrepresent the TFA's stance in order to weaken support?"

It would appear that is exactly the case. Notice Mr. Williams paraphrases, does not actually quote the entire question or answer, (which would allow context). Typical maneuver to cherry pick and slant, without an honest appraisal of the entire issue.

Also, it would seem only fair for the TV station to allow discussion on their site, they publish comments reflective of their opinion, but not allow debate?

We were never promised fair but we were given the 1st Amendment and the ability to, now, take our voice nationwide.

Dead. Spent over an hour debating. We lost it appears because our people did not show up to vote.

Interesting that Herron thinks HCP holders are Secret police. What a moron.

Bunch, Stanley, Jackson, Ketron, Tracy, Watson did not vote. Tracy appears to be PNV, others simply not there I guess. Odd, considering earlier votes that day held quite a few of those who were not on the board at all.

It's probably just as well for this year. We need to get our act together on this issue and draft a bill that provides the privacy to permit holders. To me, that is the primary issue. If organizations want access to this information, then we need to have some method of preventing the misuse of the database. We've got six months to figure out those details to have a bill worth passing next year.

I am of two minds on the complete sealing (except for law enforcement) of the HCP records.

I totally detest the printing/publishing, en mass, of the entire (or large portion) of the database, but I do feel that new organizations should be able to be able to find out if specific people are HCP holders. For example, a gun crime that was committed. The news organization should be allowed to ask for any HCP records on persons involved ONLY. Or lawmakers proposing anti-gun legislation.

I sought out this page and forum for the sole purpose of asking John a question about Phil Williams' story. I wanted to see if Phil had misquoted John in this statement:

"To that, the lobbyist replied: 'There are a lot of lazy and misinformed gun owners in Tennessee. Sometimes, you have to push the information to them.' "

But I see the actual statement here.

I believe in seeking out answers to questions I have, so here is my question: John, what do you mean by "Sometimes, you have to push the information to them?" Who exactly is the "you" in this statement? I detest direct marketing of all kinds and do not support anything that comes to me unsolicited. Do you mean that permit holders' records SHOULD be allowed to be used for such purposes because some gun owners are misinformed and lazy?

I really don't care to have anything "pushed" to me, though I may be lazy, misinformed, or otherwise. I do like to keep an eye on who is doing the pushing, though, so I can judge their motives for myself.

Thanks,
Gary

Thank you for the direct response, John.

General questions:

1) Who can access the records in question now?

2) Who SHOULD be allowed access?

I do believe Phil Williams is out to make John look like a big evil lobbyist. Of course, while twisting his statements he makes the obligatory reference that the new media "wants to be watchdogs" while others use the database for political action. (I am aware that many persons, myself included, have received mailings from the TN Sheriffs Association due to having HCP's.) Despite that, I think that John is spot on.

I wonder how Phil Williams refers to other individuals and groups who "lobby" for their Constitutional rights? Would he be in favor of being criminal background checked by the State for a permit to exercise his First Amendment rights and then have his required personal information open to the public? He probably doesn't take questions either.