Please hear this woman's story

[Pat McGarrity]

I have corresponded with Nikki Goeser and don't know how to convey to you how horrible her loss has been. In April of this year, tragically, she lost her husband. Mr. Goeser was murdered by a monster that had been stalking Nikki Goeser, as she was denied her civil right of self defense to stop the murder by the same hysterical anti-gun bigots that are bleating about parks and restaurants right now.

You can briefly hear and see her story in her own words here:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/8145457.stm

As a matter of fact, the amoral Grim Reaper of Gun Rights in Tennessee; former Speaker of the House, Jimmy Naifeh (D-Covington), who consistently silenced the will of the people by killing civil rights advancements in self defense in committee, used Mrs. Goesser's story, against her will, to promote his anti-gun jihad. Hypocritically, Naifeh had a tax payer funded full time driver/body guard state trooper at the time.

How many more unnecessary tragedies will occur because some misinformed politicians trust predators more than their constituents?

It's ironic that it took the BBC to report this, as it doesn't fit the gun-phobic template that permeates most of the American media. England has outlawed guns, which predictably, caused a massive increase in gun violence. British politicians took a nominally valuable commodity in guns, and made it very profitable overnight, to the benefit of criminals and the detriment of their law abiding citizens. If this produced the opposite outcome they intended in an island nation; how will gun bans possibly reduce crime here in he U.S., with our porous borders?

In Liberty,

Pat McGarrity
Director - Shelby County TFA

From Shelby County TFA Founder, Rich Mason:



http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8145541.stm


Tennessee gun law divides opinion

By James Coomarasamy
BBC News, Nashville, Tennessee




The new law would allow guns to be carried in pubs and restaurants
Following a recent series of high-profile shooting incidents in the United States, the southern state of Tennessee is changing its gun laws this week.

It is relaxing them.

If a last-minute legal challenge fails, from Tuesday, gun owners in the state will be allowed to carry their weapons in a lot more public places - including bars and restaurants.

I went to Nashville to find out what local residents thought about the proposed law change.

'Seconds count'

Nikki Goeser takes her Second Amendment right to bear arms very seriously.

One of Tennessee's 250,000 registered gun owners, she saw her husband, Ben, shot dead in front of her in April.

She believes her right was denied when she needed it most.


Nikki Goeser says she could have stopped her husband's killer if she'd had her gun
Soon, Tennessee's bars and restaurants will no longer be off-limits for registered weapons.

State legislators - a quarter of whom own firearms - have passed a law allowing guns into bars and restaurants, but preventing their owners from buying alcohol.

For the bill's Democratic sponsor - State Senator Doug Jackson - it is a case of preserving the rights of individuals and those of individual states.

"People are fearful about tomorrow. They feel insecure. And the Second Amendment right is something that they cherish and it's a means of protecting themselves and their family and defending what they have. It provides security in troubled times."

But on the streets of Nashville, even some staunch defenders of Second Amendment rights fear that the Music City is about to become Dodge City. And that mixing guns and alcohol is a recipe for disaster.

'Scared'

Nashville restaurateur Randy Rayburn is anything but cool about the idea of his customers having guns.

He is leading a last-minute legal challenge to the law - to protect his barmen.

"Yes they're scared, I'm scared, my wife is scared for our personal safety."

He has done what restaurant owners are permitted to do - placed a sign in his window, saying "no guns allowed".

But he is worried that the sign will not be enough to prevent people taking the new law into their own hands.


I don't care so much about a bad guy's life... If they choose that, and I am armed I know what I'm doing, I will try to stop them.

Nikki Goeser
"We don't need vigilantism inside my business," he says. "I'm a gun owner, I have a gun at my home, but I keep it there, not at a public place where many people's lives can be threatened.

And he has support from the city's police chief, Ronal Serpas, who does not believe that people who walk into bars with guns will steer clear of the shot glasses.

"If you think about how alchohol influences the choices people make... I don't believe people are not going to drink and have guns, because I know they drink and drive," he says.

"What process is going through their mind as it's clouded by alcohol? [They're] trying to do a good thing, but they have NO training, NO experience, NO time for reflective thought, and their minds are consumed by alcohol - it doesn't make sense."

But for Nikki - and other law-abiding gun owners - what does not make sense is being allowed to have a gun, but being prevented from using it when it counts

"I hear people say all the time, guns are made specifically to kill," she tells me.

"My answer to that is: 'yes a gun can kill, but in the correct hands, it can be used to save innocent lives'. I don't care so much about a bad guy's life. I'm sorry, I don't. They make the choice to be evil, that's their choice. If they choose that, and I am armed I know what I'm doing, I will try to stop them."

And soon she will be allowed to - in a lot more places.

[johnharris]

Nikki is a victim at least twice - a stalking psycopath and worse a state government that disregards and denies the right and capacity for self-defense of self and family.

Sadly, you can sometimes by chance or luck avoid the harm that may be caused by a stalker but can you similarly avoid the harm that will be caused by a government that denies and infringes fundamental rights?

I have met and stood to the side with Nikki several times as she has been interviewed by the news media and others. One thing that is remarkable is the organization of her thoughts, the passion of her beliefs and the very fact that she can relate to others the tragedy that she has experienced in her life as a lesson, an example and a focal point for others to grasp but yet the news media and the "gun nuts" (as defined by Kay Brooks) just don't understand.

[backwoodsman]

Her sheer composure and resolve is inspiring to say the least, it likens to Dr. Suzanna Hupp.

[Pat McGarrity]

God bless you John for your support of Nikki. I believe so strongly in what TFA stands for and am proud to know we work to help people to stop/prevent such tragities.

Pat

[ngoeser]

I appreciate everyone in this TFA Forum for your encouragment and kind words. Everyday is difficult for me. Everyday I wake up to the same nightmare....no Ben. But I keep plugging and trying to educate people as I know Ben would want me to do. So here is some news.....I am taking this same fight to the great state of OHIO. Ohio is getting ready to vote on their own Restaurant Carry Bill sometime this Fall. I have been talking with BuckEye Firearms and some other 2nd Amendment supporters who have the Legislators ears. I spoke on 1420AM BuckEye Firearms Conservative Talk Radio out of Cleveland Ohio last night (It will be archived online next week at http://www.buckeyefirearms.org/node/6532 ). I hope to be able to testify before their Senate to try and help get the same Restaurant Carry Law passed in Ohio. I want the Second Amendment to be taken seriously all over this country. The world is a very different place now than what it used to be. Criminals are striking more & more often and at more & more places where individuals cannot protect themselves. This HAS GOT TO STOP. We all deserve to live in peace and have our families safe. Like I have said many times and I know you have too...."When seconds count, the police are minutes away".

[lilredhunter]

Nikki (sp?) It is wonderful to see you here. I hope in time things get easier and I pray we never have to face what you have been through. Just know we are all behind you 1000%. Thank you keeping up the fight for what Ben would want. He was an awesome person. God Bless you .

[jpesz]

It is sad that people like Rayburn don't have sense enough to realize that their resturants have always had people in there with guns and that those are the people who are the problem. His sign will keep permit holders from taking a gun into his establishment but the people who are an actual danger could care less about signs or the law. They just never seem to understand that you can only disarm people who are not the problem.