Gun Laws Expanded for Self-Defense - NOT GOOD!!!!

[CSS Hunley]

http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll ... 2/70503057

Gun Laws Expanded for Self-Defense

By SHEILA WISSNER
Staff Writer

Law-abiding citizens will be able to use deadly force in self-defense in more places under legislation that unanimously passed the state Senate Thursday and is on its way to becoming law.
Currently, Tennesseans can use deadly force when faced with a threat of death or serious injury in their own homes. The bill approved by the Senate Thursday and by the House last week extends those areas to include all homes and vehicles, regardless of who owns them.



Another bill involving the use of weapons also got the nod this week. That bill would prevent the governor or any local official from confiscating weapons or restricting their sale or transportation during a state of emergency or disaster.
Police confiscated guns in New Orleans during the violent aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, sparking concern among gun-rights advocates who said it left citizens helpless against marauding thugs.
The legislation passed unanimously in the House Monday and unanimously in the Senate in March.
Tennessee is the 14th state to pass similar legislation, said Rachel Parsons, spokeswoman for the National Rifle Association. The others are Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, Alaska, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Virginia.
Contact Sheila Wissner at 259-8044 or swissner@tennessean.com.



Does this just have to get past Gov. Bredesen? Discussion?

[johnharris]

I can not say it loud enough, the "Castle Bill" that has past and that is being misconstrued by the news media IS NOT A GOOD BILL!!!!!

I have opposed it in the manner in which it is written and in which it has passed. It is poorly drafted and now creates some problems that we did not previously have. I realize it was an effort to take what Tennessee had as an already existing castle doctrine and expand it to include vehicles but I am really disappointed in what has been enacted.

See TFALAC Alert from April 3, 2007 -

See this memo for why the bill needed to be stopped and for the talking points both on why and on how to address this issue:



Perhaps TFA needs a new lobbyist because I wrote legislators on this one, I talked to them, I sent the NRA the memo but apparently the NRA backed it with full support.

I think this is enough to convince me that I do not have the time to keep working on this stuff with the NRA or in my limited "spare time."

[SomeGuy]

John,

The problem does not lie with you, or the TFA. The NRA ran with something to look good, without the concern for doing a good job. This seems to be the modern NRA, where they decide, and gun owners do what they say.

I have in the past written letters to the NRA as a member over one thing or another, and was not even given a courtesy reply. Obviously, they did not even bother with my idea. I can honestly say that I am tempted to let my NRA membership die, but not my TFA membership.

While it is not what we wanted, why not come back next session with a revision for it? It will be an election year, and pointing out flaws in the law and patching them should be popular enough. If it goes through, then in the end we got the good legislation we wanted. If not, then maybe it can be used to off a few of the anti-gun/pro-Naifeh reps who voted against our bill in the next election.

Just a thought.

[johnharris]

It could be fixed but experience tells me it is harder to make these kinds of fixes in the following year. The legislators, most of whom have no idea what Tennessee's carry laws are, will say, didn't we just fix that last year?

Here's most of what happened. This bill was running last year. It was close to passage and I was able to get Darren LaSorte, the NRA lobbyist from last year to understand it was not a good bill and he killed it.

Then, this year, about half a dozen legislators - most of them abuzz with the concept of a "castle doctrine" and most of them not really understanding current TN law - snatched the bill from last year and reintroduced it. Then, Virgina Tech happened and, well, they were going to pass something no matter what happened.

I do not know at this point whether NRA supported or opposed the bill. I am of the understanding that the NRA attorney's looked at it and green lighted the bill. If so, I would really like to know how many of them have a law license in TN, understood TN's current law or have, as I have, actually tried criminal cases under the existing (now former) TN law. If NRA green lighted it and I had warned NRA not to go with the current bill based on the memo I wrote for them, then, well, I am pretty pissed right now!