SB0976 (Beavers) passes out of the Senate Judiciary on a 7/2 vote this afternoon.
The bill is the Senate companion to the House bill HB0716 (Nicely) which has already passed the House on a vote of 71-22.
The Senate bill is much better than the House version. It by default includes local parks as being open for permit holders but allows local governments to close the park (the entire park - not just a part) by passing an ordinance.
http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInf ... ber=SB0976
There was heavy lobbying against the bill by the State administration as well as a proposed amendment by Senator Kyle to give local governments the ability to close that portion of local parks in their jurisdictions.
One improvement to the bill would be to require local action by 2/3 vote rather than a simple majority. We are of course talking about a US Supreme Court acknowledged right of self-defense and the issue is whether there is a compelling reason to infringe that right. A simple majority does not establish a compelling state or local interest to warrant infringement!