Panel discussion at UTM tonight

[C. Richard Archie]

May not make the slightest bit of difference, but I will be in the audience tonight. I intend to hoist the TFA "colors" at least.

I hope to have the opportunity to speak directly to Adam Dread if the situation presents itself.

[David Lewis]

Without doubt, he knows who we are. I spoke to both him & his wife at the hearing before Chancellor Bonnyman about the Restaurant Carry lawsuit. She informed me that they were NRA members, & really agreed with pretty much all of TFA's positions.

So, I asked her why they weren't TFA members, then, & why were they involved in the lawsuit? All I got was a non-committal, "Uh..."

You might want to try some recruiting, Richard. Perhaps you'll be more successful than I in getting them to leave the dark side!

I look forward to reading your comments about the "debate".

David

[C. Richard Archie]

[C. Richard Archie]

I would say that the folks on the NRA side did a bang up job of dealing with the issues. Glen Caroline, Director of the Grass Roots Division, did an excellent presentation of facts. Kevin Teets, having recently passed the Iowa bar exam, and a graduate of UTM, comported himself well too. They hammered home the fact that the 2nd Amendment provides for the individual Citizen to keep and bear arms, which the opposition did not decry, though both Dread and Helmke insisted that though the individual Right has been confirmed by SCOUTS, "sensible restrictions" should be applied. This appears to be a shift in the paradigm of the debate.

Adam Dread was his standard self, alluding to the fact that the Road Kill Bill, equal in effect nationally to the Guns in Restaurant Bill, had made Tennessee the laughing stock of the US. HE stated that the Legislature had gotten the cart before the horse in providing for HCP carry in venues that serve alcohol, tried the tired old saw that no other State had a specific Law allowing guns in bars. Paul Helmke offered no substance to his emotional argument other than more guns equals more violence.

Questions were taken from the audience. One young lady asked about the numerous multiple shootings in educational environments, notably Columbine and Virgina Tech, to which Caroline responded brilliantly, advising that the procurement of weapons and ammunition for these tragedies were illegally gained, and were criminal acts in and of themselves. The young lady was resolute in her questions, and it was apparent that she was passionate about her beliefs. I promised her that I would post this account by Suzanna Hupp for her to watch, and an account of the day in her words.





Also I suggest she watch the following:



As for the other questions for the panelist, another young lady asked Helmke why he would blame the gun for acts committed by people, but not other tools for the work they did, such as cars for wrecks.

Dread was asked if he were willing for there to be a differentiation of bars from restaurants, pay the appropriate up-charge in liability insurance, and would he be willing to assume responsibility for the safety of patrons if they were denied their Right to protect themselves as guaranteed by the Constitution, all questions he answered in the affirmative. He made the lame statement that if an open carrier could lay his weapon on the table and someone else might pick it up and shoot up the place. He did have to admit that any business owner could post against open carry, as he said he had not problem with concealed carry, all in all he vacillated and obfuscated, standard fare.

Over all, I felt the tenor of the engagement was very supportive of the Right to keep and bear arms.

[C. Richard Archie]

Meant to say that I was able to garner support last night. Have been reading the blog by Ol' Fred relative to the Rifleman series as it relative to the Appleseed Project, his advice on Team participation makes perfect sense to me.



Richard Jackson made the trip with me, and the stalwart Butch Butler swapped shifts to come as well. There were three Black shirts front and center of the dais. I had my team about me, flanks protected!