Tennessee Firearms Assoc. Inc.

On February 17, 2009, the Criminal Practice and Procedure Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee will meet to consider several bills including HB1805, HB1806 and HB1807. HB1805 allows anyone with a carry permit to carry in any local, municipal or state park (with no opt-out language). HB1806 allows anyone with a carry permit to bring a gun onto school property as long as the gun is kept in the car and not displayed. HB1807 is the biggie. It allows anyone with a carry permit to carry in any restaurant which serves alcoholic beverages as long as the person is not consuming any alcohol and the premises is not posted. The members are:

Eric Watson, Chair
Janis Sontany, Vice-Chair
Eddie Bass
Karen Camper
Judd Matheny
Barrett Rich

Their email addresses are in this format: rep.(1st Name).(last name)@capitol.tn.gov. So, for example, the chairman's address would be rep.eric.watson@capitol.tn.gov. I have sent each one of them the following email:

Rep. (Name):

I just wanted to write to let you know that I am very much in favor of the passage of HB1805, HB1806, and HB1807 concerning the carry rights of handgun permit holders. I think recent history has shown that we need a clear law which states that if you are properly licensed, you should be able to carry anywhere in the state, including parks and anywhere alcohol is served, as long as you are not consuming any alcohol.

Thanks in advance for your support of these measures. Many other gun owners, permit holders and I will be watching very closely to be sure our rights are protected and I urge swift passage of these measures.

Sincerely,

I urge everyone to write ASAP and let these folks know how you feel, especially if you live in any of their districts. Feel free to copy and paste my letter if you like. The webpage to look up legislators, committees and bills is www.capitol.tn.gov.

Response I got today from Rep. Eddie Bass:

Rusty, thank you for writing. My voting history and sponsorship of bills supporting our 2nd am rights will show that I agree with you 100%. Please feel free to contact me anytime concerning this
or any other important issue....................Eddie

I like this man already!

On 2/16, I received a notice from the House Crim Prac subcommittee notifying me that all "gun bills" are being moved to a special calendar on March 10.

I think they are pushing things back to try and get everything moving at once and try to sort out all of the bills, like an exemption under the alcohol statute (or its repeal), at one time. Senate should have some bills moving by then. Sen. Jackson suggests that the Senate will likely pass several versions and let the cards fall in the lap of the House.

This means that we must TURN UP THE HEAT on the approach we want

First choice - repeal the alcohol statute so that carrying in these locations is just like any place else - its illegal unless a) you have a permit, b) the place is not posted and c) you are not under the influence of alcohol. This approach has ZERO probability of being "vague".

Second choice - create a simple exemption under the existing alcohol statute - something like "persons carrying pursuant to TCA 39-17-1351". There is nothing to interpret at that point.

Third choice - do we pass something less acceptable or demand that it be rejected and try again in 2011?

If the Senate gets to be the first place to take a crack at it, we should go all out. Worst case scenario we let it go to conference, and the Senate version becomes adopted.

I think we have the votes in the Senate to pass a strong bill but we have to have phone calls, letters, emails and faxes! What is more, the Senate may take some ques from the House so we probably need pressure over there more than in the Senate. It is really important to start the calls and pressure.

So far Rep. Eddie Bass is still the only one on the Subcommittee from whom I have heard.

Rep. Bass is good and will likely be with us. I also expect to get most of the Republican votes based on voting histories. We likely will not have the majority of the Democrat votes - again based on voting histories. We need to pull out the clean bill options (repeal or simple exception) even if its on a one vote margin.

That means calls, calls, calls!