by johnharris » Thu Jan 15, 2004 9:12 am
This is a good question.
Many of you only know me as the Executive Director of the TFA. The guy that writes the emails. The guy who asks for PAC contributions. The guy who talked me into joining and then did not give me a membership card for X months.
While some of you are already aware, my particular involvement with TFA started in the early and mid 1990's specifically because my law practice (I am a practicing attorney in Nashville and handle predominately civil and business matters) included representing individuals with Second Amendment concerns such as permit denials when the sheriffs were in charge. Over the last 10+ years my practice has grown to the point where I have handled a variety of Second Amendment, firearms and ATF cases (including representing several shooting ranges under threat of closure by zoning authorities) across the state and have, in part because of my book on the legal aspects of self defense law, been retained and consulted by other attorneys as one with an unusual degree of experience in this area.
I am one of the NRA's referral attorneys in Tennessee and have served as a "pro bono" (they say that they cannot afford to pay) legal advisor to ILA's last four lobbyists. I have and will travel anywhere in TN to handle cases. However, I also realize that not everyone in the state needs to incur the costs of bringing an attorney from Nashville for every problem. Therefore, I keep a reference list of NRA referral attorneys across the country. I also keep a list of attorney's (a very short list) in TN who I know handle these other types of cases in which firearms owners may find themselves involved from time to time.
Indeeed, I have created and moderate a section on this very forum that is restricted to licensed attorneys who want to discuss or need help with firearms cases.
I donate a lot of time to TFA. My law practice has enabled me financially to be able to do so. If my law office can be of assistance to any TFA members for any reason, you know where to find me. If it is an emergency and you need to reach my law office for legal representation, that number is (615) 244-6670.
One final qualification. I responded to this post because it is directly responsive to the question asked. I have made a conscious decision not to promote my law practice through TFA because I do not want anyone to believe that the work I have done in this area was done as a marketing plan for my practice.
John Harris
Executive Director
Tennessee Firearms Association, Inc.
Attorney