Tennessee Firearms Assoc. Inc.

TFAOnline Forum administrators are discussing changes to the site to improve it for those interested in firearms in Tennessee. We are considering new forum topics and potentially moving the forum to the same host that will be serving the primary TFA information forum as it undergoes development.

We would appreciate your comments on what changes you would like to see to the TFA forum.

One topic we are considering is site sponsors and another is new forum categories.

I have a few thoughts I'd like to share.

1) From my very limited experience moderating such forums, it seems to me that membership is key. It takes a certain "critical mass" of members to make a forum viable, useful, and vibrant. This would require increasing TFA membership and having current TFA members make more/better use of the forum.

2) TFA is a fairly narrow-focus organization. As such, in order to increase membership, more people who fit into the niche market TFA online serves need to know about it. I would suggest that ALL carry permit holders in TN be informed about TFA, who we are, and what services these forums offer. This would obviously cost money, but it could be done.

3) Development of new features in the forums would also assist in increasing membership and use. For example, www.tngunowners.com offers users a chat room, several databases, a newsbot service, a review service, photo albums and more. Membership in TGO has grown with the introduction of new features.

4) New forums within TFA would be useful. The focus on legislation and right-to-carry issues is paramount, but more information on products and services available to the TN permit holder would be intereting to some segments of our audience. (Training opportunities, how to select a carry firearm, etc)

5) I see the potential for overlap of mission and services between TFA and TGO, at least in the online arena. One possible option might be a merger of the online presence of the two organizations. TFAonline.org could become a part of the wider TGO community. This would provide TFA a larger online presence (TGO is now over 1000 members and is growing daily) and would strengthen TFA's ability to carry out its mission as its message would reach a larger audience. Of course, various issues would need to be worked out, and I only offer this as a possible "outside the box" option.

6) Finally, as we enter into the 2nd half of the 105th General Assembly, it is more clear to me than ever before that organization and numbers aid our cause. Whatever can be done to ensure TFA remains a loud, clear voice, professionally spoken and well-represented should be done.

Thanks for the chance to offer my opinion. I am willing to help in whatever ways I can.