"This debate is being driven by emotion..."

[Pat McGarrity]

This debate is being driven by emotion and ... not driven by facts or circumstance."

- Nashville Police Chief Ronal Serpas 5/28/09

Truer words were never spoken. Our civil rights struggle against prejudice and the absence of common sense continues...

1. This may turn out to be some of the best advertising TFA and other pro-gun groups could get.
2. It's likely Bredesen's veto will be overridden.
3. It may wake up enough Carry Permit Holders to hold politicians & appointees like Bredesen and Serpas accountable, as well as the media for their typical sensational headlines.

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_8545/contentd ... d=dbvWjE62
Bredesen vetoes guns in bars bill

LUCAS L. JOHNSON II
Published: Today

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Gov. Phil Bredesen on Thursday vetoed a bill that would have allowed Tennessee handgun permit holders to take their weapons into establishments that serve alcohol.

He made the announcement at a late afternoon news conference where he was joined by police chiefs and district attorneys from around the state.

"Tennessee state law has long prohibited the possession of firearms in bars and restaurants that serve alcohol," Bredesen said. "House Bill 962 would remove this protection in a manner that I, along with many law enforcement officers, believe to be reckless and lacking basic safeguards to ensure public safety. I respectfully ask the Legislature to rethink this issue."

The measure passed the state House 66-23 and Senate 24-7 earlier this month. A simple majority is required in each chamber to override a veto.

Lawmakers agreed to leave out provisions that would impose an 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew for carrying handguns where alcohol is served and keep a handgun ban in place for bars that restrict entry to people over 21 years old.

But they retained an existing ban on consuming alcohol while carrying a handgun.

"The notion that this bill would permit one to carry a concealed weapon into a crowded bar at midnight on a Saturday night defies common sense, and I cannot sign such a measure into law," the governor said.

Democratic Sen. Doug Jackson of Dickson, the bill's primary sponsor in the Senate, said he will consider the governor's reasons for vetoing the measure then determine how to proceed.

He said he understands "dealing with firearms is a divisive issue, but the Supreme Court has made clear this is a Second Amendment right."

"Given the record of similar laws in other states, millions of citizens around the country have the same right we want to give Tennesseans, and that right has not been abused. ... to that extent, the bill does not seem to be unreasonable," he said.

House sponsor Curry Todd said he will attempt to override the veto.

"This bill passed by two-thirds in both bodies, indicating that there is strong support for this measure," said the Collierville Republican.

Currently, 37 other states allow people to carry their guns into bars.

Nashville Police Chief Ronal Serpas called the legislation a "major public policy" issue that is not substantiated with research to support its necessity.

"If this public policy question needed to be answered, why wasn't there a tremendous amount of research put into to it to demonstrate that we need to change our public policy," Serpas said. "Nothing like that happened. This debate is being driven by emotion and ... not driven by facts or circumstance."

However, Jackson said the "law abiding citizen has the right to self-defense."

"I think Ronal Serpas would prefer that if a citizen was confronted with a crime of violence they would respond with a cell phone and a prayer," Jackson said.

As for other gun-related legislation headed his way, such as allowing handgun-carry permit holders to bring their weapons into state and local parks, Bredesen said he will once again consult with law enforcement and other officials before making a decision on whether to veto.

___

Read HB0962 at: http://www.capitol.tn.gov

___

Associated Press Writer Erik Schelzig contributed to this report.

[KevinMcCauley]

I think we need a tea party esque rally in front of Serpas' office. This man needs to find a new job in another state...Im sure they'd love him in Chicago or San Fransisco.

[redbarron06]

I think we need to show up at the next tea party conducting open carry.

[JayC]

Would it be possible to try to get a new law introduced to require the CLEO of a county be an elected official in the state TN? It seems to me that largely the only CLEO's present at this veto party were unelected... The rest of our state the Sheriff is an elected position correct? Maybe the solution to this is to make the CLEO in this large counties responsible directly to the voters.

Seems like something TFA could help push for...

[David Lewis]

That has to do with the Metro Charter & the combination of the city & county governments into a Metropolitan
form of government, which occurred in 1963.

I'm not sure the legislature would be willing to address the issue.

David

[ProguninTN]

JayC, I agree with you that it is annoying that it is annoying that unelected officials can lobby against our freedoms. However, David has it right. In most counties, the Sheriff is the CLEO, and they are elected officials. Davidson County is different due to its Metro Charter. Trousdale and Moore Counties also have Metropolitan Governments. Although, I have not heard any opinions (pro or anti) regarding guns from their CLEOs.

[TacticaLogic]

I am very emotional about this as well... I'm very concerned... I want to know what T.C.A. says regarding carrying of a handgun by a permitted individual within a 15 foot radius of any local television news camera...

Everybody knows that the most dangerous place to be in Nashville is between Chief Serpas and a camera lens.

I had high hopes for Serpas when he arrived... But every time I hear him speak, I swear his IQ points drop 10-15% since his previous television/photo opportunity. Everything Serpas does is for the sake of "public perception". It doesn't matter if five murders go unsolved, because those might effect, say, five to ten families. The perception of five to ten families won't impact his keeping his job... But by-golly, those officers better be out there writing tickets and making themselves visible, because that way the public "knows that the Police Department is on the job." Serpas calls this "quality of live" and he wants the public to feel that their "quality of live" is better with him on watch. Of course, Serpas was quick to meet with the Tabitha Tudors family as soon as he got into office, because that was good press... You know, it looks good when the man with 5 stars on his collar meets with the common folk. Did anything really come of it? No...

This issue is indeed a very emotional one... It appears to me that Serpas and his ilk will be emotionally devasted should the public be allow to exercise THE GOD GIVEN (not government granted) RIGHT TO DEFEND ONESELF. It comes from what I deem an inferiority complex - the need to feel that "We're special... we get to carry guns where you don't. You are not qualified to carry guns - we are. You just don't understand."

Is this just another example of "big government" being self preserving? If big government can make the public believe that everything should be the responsibility of the government, then big government has assured itself a future. If Law Enforcement can make everyone believe that protecting them is the Police Department's job, then they have helped maintain their budget and staff - self preservation. OF COURSE, A WELL INFORMED PUBLIC UNDERSTANDS THAT WHEN SECONDS COUNT, LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS ARE JUST MINUTES AWAY!!!

I am about to make a point. In doing so, I intend no insult to the line officer that is out there trying to do a job that is usually thankless... Nor am I attempting to paint all LEO's with the same brush. If you are a commisioned LEO, you know as well as I do that there are officers out there that have no business trying to enforce the law, carry a gun, of even hold a commission. They are the exception, not the rule. I have seen and witnessed the difference first hand. I watched my dad go in, shift after shift, for years and years. But my dad was old school... In all of his years, I only saw him with a really bad bruise one time, delivered to him by a doped up person that took six officers to control. (He always said "never take a beating or give a beating when you can stop the bad guy with a shot of mace. Mace didn't always work... So then you went hands on. Bruises and broken bones would last a while - mace would wash off and the bad guy was fine in less than an hour.") And I know he used chemical mace on a more than few that needed it. But he didn't have to beat someone down 4-5 times a week, either. If he drew his sidearm, it was time for business, and that business meant someone just might die - he was well aware that we expected him to finish his shift and come home, so he made sure that happened, too. He learned early on how to "read" a person, and never escalated a situation beyond what was needed. He always stated that if you treated someone with respect from the offset, that you could help keep the situation calm. He wasn't a pushover by any means... But then again, he never threw common sense out the window, either.

He saw something different in officers for which he had to act as FTO in later years. A different attitude... He even talked about how some of the officers (back in the late 80's, just before he retired) would come out of the academy with an attitude of "we had better get 'them' before they get us" instead of "we're here to serve the public in our job, but we have to be ever vigilant against those that would cause anyone, including us, harm." It was what my dad called being "badge heavy." They would get their commission and it was like someone had turned off the "common sense" switch. He worked hard to get their "common sense" switch turned back on before he signed off on their going solo. This turning off of the "common sense" switch manifested itself in two ways, dad said: the officer that is "badge heavy", and the officer that (through some miracle not yet understood by modern science) automatically knew much, much more than the general public about what was good for them (as is the case with Serpas.)

I wasn't sure what dad meant about "badge heavy" until I heard a deputy brag one time about how he pulled a handcuffed prisoner (that had just insulted his family lineage) out of the back of his patrol car and kicked him with his right leg until it got tired, so he then switched to his left leg. Of course, a little investigation of my own revealed an arrest report that stated the prisoner had resisted arrest, had to be subdued, and then fell down several times while being escorted from the car to the booking area. This deputy was very proud of what he had done... If you can't take verbal abuse, you have no business being commisioned as a LEO. Supposedly, if a candidate makes it through the psych exam, he/she should be okay - but that is not always the case. LEO's have committed murder/suicides, have stalked and killed those with which they have become obsessed, etc. And for the few bad apples that are out there, there are hundreds of good officers that truly believe in what they are trying to do for the public, with some of them paying the ultimate sacrifice. But the law enforcement community is just that: a community. And every community has its winners, losers, and those that feel that they are the "elite", are entitled to be able to do things the average citizen should not, and are smarter than the general public.

I know this is an overly long post. But I wanted to make my point about what makes LEO's like Serpas tick. He is an elitist. He truly believes that he knows better what is good for the public... He likes the fact that he holds the highest rank in the department, and has fallen victim to his own elitist myth. BUT: Any LEO that says that it usually takes less than a minute for a responding officer to check 10-98 regarding calls to home invasions, hold-ups, robberies, car-jackings, etc. is in denial. And any LEO that would deny a citizen their right to self defense is an elitist that deserves to be removed from his post and decommissioned.

And that is just my opinion,
Mike

[ProguninTN]

[JayC]

[photoguy67]

I am no expert, but it seems to me that if Chief Serpas is appointed, then we hold the person that appointed him accountable. Which IS probably an elected official.
Billy

[bubbadavis]

Serpas's boss is Karl Dean. I don't think he will care what we say or do. He's just as liberal as the rest of the bunch that was at the Governor's little party yesterday.

[johnharris]

Liberal is an understatement for Karl Dean. He is probably worse than John Kerry (living off wife's money?) or even Obama himself.