Tennessee Firearms Association, Inc.
Legislative Action Committee
News reports from Missouri indicate Haslam accepting of Employee Safe Commute legislation but that Speake Harwell remains focused on claims by Big Business that they have a "property right" interest in interfering with the interests of those employees who commute to and from work.
Before noting the Missouri news report, note that Harwell and her operatives as well as others opposing the legislation that enables employees to provide for their own self-defense while commuting to and from work generally justify their opposition based on the "property rights" of Big Business (which we can infer are more forceful than simply whispering in the ears of those legislators). But what does that mean? What exactly is this "property rights" issue? What underlies it? Is there some detrimental impact on the value of the real property if employees are allowed to secure their personal firearms in their personal property (that is, their cars or trucks) while parked at work? Is it anything more than some elite at the upper management levels of perhaps FedEx biased preference that guns are bad? Do the shareholders of these business interests hold those same opinions? Do the employees?
While property rights are worthy of protection, property rights are not the issue. It is a question of balancing the interests of individual citizens in the effective capacity for their inherent, divine rights of self-defense against the government created and regulated rights individuals in real property. Keep in mind, that this same government feels content in regulating "property rights" to mandate ADA laws, smoking bans, parking lot size, dimensions, painting, tree and greenspace, curb dimension, general building code consideration, signage, lighting, aesthetics, allowance for guide dogs, storm water drainage, sanitation, public security. Sure, those things are justifiable infringements of property rights - but allowing an employee to determine the contents of his or her personal car in this specific instances - "no, that is going too far..." The distinction seems to be outcome oriented, at best.
http://www.tnreport.com/2012/02/guns-bill-compromise-could-win-haslam-support/
http://missouri-news.org/midwest-news/tennessee/guns-in-parking-lots-compromise-could-win-haslam-support/14092
[Note: The Missouri report was submitted by TNReport.com and includes YouTube videos from Speaker Harwell and Lt. Gov Ron Ramsey]
Gov. Bill Haslam hinted this week he wouldn’t necessarily shoot down legislation that would allow Tennessee gun owners to keep a firearm stored in their vehicle while they are at work — even over the objection of their employer.
Still, the proposal idling in the General Assembly seems “overly broad” to the governor. But during a meeting with the Capitol press corps Wednesday, Haslam suggested that if the House and Senate can pass a compromise, he’ll likely sign on.
Sen. Mike Faulk and Rep. Eddie Bass are sponsoring the legislation, which gained some traction last year but not enough to win over GOP leaders in the House.
Proponents are confident it would pass if Speaker Beth Harwell, of Nashville, and Majority Leader Gerald McCormick, of Chattanooga, were to allow the bill to come to the chamber floor for a vote.
Harwell has said she’s sensitive to employers’ private property rights, and for that reason the legislation gives her pause.
“We certainly want a piece of legislation that is business-friendly. We are not in the business of doing anything to harm the businesses that we currently have in place in Tennessee,” said Harwell, who added she’s unsure exactly what will be included or deleted from the working proposal.
Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville, strongly supports the parking-lot bill, saying he understands businesses want to maintain their private property rights, “but there are some almost public parking lots that people should be allowed to do that (travel with a firearm) if you’re a gun carry permit holder and if you keep it in your car.”
In its current draft, the bill prevents employers from preventing employees from keeping a firearm locked in their own vehicle while parked on company property during work hours.
“It is the intent of this section to reinforce and protect the right of each citizen to lawfully transport and store firearms within his or her private motor vehicle for lawful purposes in any place where the vehicle is otherwise permitted to be,” according to the bill. Bass says he’ll move the House version after it wins approval from the Senate.
“We’re neutral and will stay that way,” said Jim Brown, Tennessee director of the National Federation of Independent Business, one of the few business groups hugging the sidelines. “We have members who are on both sides of that issue between 1st and 2nd Amendment rights.”
The governor is concerned with the “scope of location” in the Faulk-Bass legislation, according to his spokesman, but Haslam says if a deal is doable he won’t block it.
“The current bill that’s out there is overly broad, and we’d like to see it addressed some more, which I think is in the process,” the governor said.
Backing the bill is the Tennessee Firearms Association, which has been breathing down the House Republican leadership’s collective neck for the last few months for refusing to extend the state’s gun rights laws ahead of the 2012 elections.
The TFA has been pressuring lawmakers, namely Harwell and her caucus’ “shadow operatives,” to take up pro-gun bills instead of “pandering to businesses” by ignoring the legislation.
Haslam said he’s used to hearing such fighting words.
“Five times a day I’ll have somebody say, if I don’t do this, ‘we’re going to unleash all the power of fill-in-the-blank on you,’” Haslam told reporters Wednesday.
He added, though, “I think most veteran lawmakers try to figure out how to weigh all that in and don’t get overly swayed by that.”
Bass said the bill should face an up-or-down vote despite any worries it would distract the Legislature from focusing on issues like the budget and the economy.
“I think if it’s one bill, and if the people don’t like it, they’ll vote it down. That’s how the system works. We all have opinions,” he told TNReport.
A Democrat, Bass wouldn’t reveal his plans when asked Wednesday whether he’ll switch party affiliation and run in the August GOP primary.
Bass has won over John Harris, executive director of TFA, who describes Bass as a “consistent supporter of individual rights, particularly for firearms owners.”
For that matter, Harris told TNReport his organization isn’t prone to obsessing over party affiliation when assessing a lawmaker’s reliability as a right-to-keep-and-bear-arms defender. Rural Tennessee Democrats are oftentimes better friends to firearm-carry enthusiasts than urban Republicans, said Harris.
“Independent of whatever partisan label you put on him, Eddie Bass is about as strong a 2nd Amendment supporter as there is in the House,” Harris told TNReport last month when Republicans were thinking about drawing Savannah Republican Vance Dennis and Bass into the same district.
High-ranking House Democrat Mike Turner says he hasn’t recently polled his caucus on the guns in parking lots issue, but is keenly aware business interests are no fans of the idea.
“Traditionally Democrats have not supported the bill, but we’re going to actually talk about that when it comes up,” said Turner. “(Republicans) traditionally want us to bail them out in those types of situations, but we’ll see what happens with that.”
Another bill
on the docket this year would ban employers from forcing employees or job applicants to disclose whether they use, own, possess or transport a firearm unless those duties are required for the job.
The Senate Judiciary and Commerce committees expect to hear from proponents of the gun rights bills Feb. 21. The committees will then hear from opponents March 6. Faulk said he hopes the committees will vote on the measures that day.
The Department of Safety has issued 339,000 handgun carry permits to Tennesseans since it took over responsibility for that function in October of 1996, according to the agency’s website. Prior to that handgun carry permits were issued by local sheriff’s offices.
Mark Engler contributed to this report.
In Closing...
One final observation on the Employee Safe Commute bill. We are seeing and receiving conflict messages from legislators on the issue and the amount of pressure against it. That is not bad because it will help citizens in an election year in many ways.
Certainly, it is no secret given the public statements of Harwell, Maggart and McCormick that they do not want it and their opposition is derivative of the demands being placed on them by the "Big Business" bedfellows. While those three may not be in jeopardy of losing their individual seats for re-election, what is possible is putting enough influence on the seats of those legislators who put them in office to see if that mistake will be repeated.
It is also clear from news reports that Lt. Gov. Ramsey and Gov. Haslam think that the Faulk/Bass bill 'go too far.' Unfortunately, a specific written request to Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey several days ago for clarification of that reported concern has gone without the courtesy of a written clarification or for that manner any clarification.
Some House Legislators are reporting "off the record" that they have had House leadership under Harwell pressure them to avoid this bill. Some have reported, "off the record" that they have been warned not to communicate with TFA or its leadership. Some have reported, "off the record", that there is noticeable anger or frustration by House leadership over this bill that would not just quitely go away and has brought against them so much of the news attention that they wanted to avoid on firearms issues. Indeed, it may be inferred that this anger from House leadership arises from the fact that their true character and (lack of natural) support for the Second Amendment cannot be easily placed behind the curtains of political misrepresentation that exists when public focus and demands lie elsewhere.
Curiously, I am also receiving reports from inside the halls of the Legislature that the House Republican caucus will pass this bill if it gets to the floor. We are receiving reports that many rank and file House members view this issue as an important issue. Oddly, there are even reports that suggest that House leadership is perhaps realizing that the House Republican caucus will support the bill on the floor if it is not stopped by leadership in the committee system.
One conclusion that may be drawn is that too many in House Republican leadership (not all but too many) do not need to see an additional term of office in leadership within the caucus and it will be the job of voters to extract those commitments from rank and file candidates for office or find others who will make those commitments. Too many in current House leadership have let it be known from theirMount Olympus by their actions and statements that they have forgotten that they came to power to serve the people of this State not to deny them their Constitutionally protected rights.
TFA MEMBERSHIP
TFA is a grassroots organization. Membership in TFA helps support our collective efforts by covering the costs of the TFA website, its forum, these alerts, and other organizational necessities. If you are receiving these emails and are not already a member of TFA, I urge you to consider joining TFA because your support is important.
If you would like to join or renew your membership, you can do so online at this link JOIN TFA
TFALAC ALERTS - mailing list maintenance
I am asking everyone who receives this email alert to forward it to others in your gun clubs, shooting/hunting networks and anyone who you think may be interested in TFA or these free alerts. I want to try and make sure that everyone who wants these alerts is receiving them.
If you receive this alert as a forward and you want to subscribe to it, you will need to send a subscription request through this link:
Subsrcption Request
When you do, the system should send you (within 48 hours normally) a 2nd email to confirm the request. You must also respond to that confirmaiton email by simply hitting respond and then send - do not edit the subject line because it will contain a confirmation code. If your subject line is edited or in some instances truncated (thank you again AOL), then the subscription will fail.
John Harris
Executive Director
www.tennesseefirearms.com
Tennessee Firearms Association, Inc.
Legislative Action Committee
News reports from Missouri indicate Haslam accepting of Employee Safe Commute legislation but that Speake Harwell remains focused on claims by Big Business that they have a "property right" interest in interfering with the interests of those employees who commute to and from work.
Before noting the Missouri news report, note that Harwell and her operatives as well as others opposing the legislation that enables employees to provide for their own self-defense while commuting to and from work generally justify their opposition based on the "property rights" of Big Business (which we can infer are more forceful than simply whispering in the ears of those legislators). But what does that mean? What exactly is this "property rights" issue? What underlies it? Is there some detrimental impact on the value of the real property if employees are allowed to secure their personal firearms in their personal property (that is, their cars or trucks) while parked at work? Is it anything more than some elite at the upper management levels of perhaps FedEx biased preference that guns are bad? Do the shareholders of these business interests hold those same opinions? Do the employees?
While property rights are worthy of protection, property rights are not the issue. It is a question of balancing the interests of individual citizens in the effective capacity for their inherent, divine rights of self-defense against the government created and regulated rights individuals in real property. Keep in mind, that this same government feels content in regulating "property rights" to mandate ADA laws, smoking bans, parking lot size, dimensions, painting, tree and greenspace, curb dimension, general building code consideration, signage, lighting, aesthetics, allowance for guide dogs, storm water drainage, sanitation, public security. Sure, those things are justifiable infringements of property rights - but allowing an employee to determine the contents of his or her personal car in this specific instances - "no, that is going too far..." The distinction seems to be outcome oriented, at best.
http://www.tnreport.com/2012/02/guns-bill-compromise-could-win-haslam-support/
http://missouri-news.org/midwest-news/tennessee/guns-in-parking-lots-compromise-could-win-haslam-support/14092
[Note: The Missouri report was submitted by TNReport.com and includes YouTube videos from Speaker Harwell and Lt. Gov Ron Ramsey]
Gov. Bill Haslam hinted this week he wouldn’t necessarily shoot down legislation that would allow Tennessee gun owners to keep a firearm stored in their vehicle while they are at work — even over the objection of their employer.
Still, the proposal idling in the General Assembly seems “overly broad” to the governor. But during a meeting with the Capitol press corps Wednesday, Haslam suggested that if the House and Senate can pass a compromise, he’ll likely sign on.
Sen. Mike Faulk and Rep. Eddie Bass are sponsoring the legislation, which gained some traction last year but not enough to win over GOP leaders in the House.
Proponents are confident it would pass if Speaker Beth Harwell, of Nashville, and Majority Leader Gerald McCormick, of Chattanooga, were to allow the bill to come to the chamber floor for a vote.
Harwell has said she’s sensitive to employers’ private property rights, and for that reason the legislation gives her pause.
“We certainly want a piece of legislation that is business-friendly. We are not in the business of doing anything to harm the businesses that we currently have in place in Tennessee,” said Harwell, who added she’s unsure exactly what will be included or deleted from the working proposal.
Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville, strongly supports the parking-lot bill, saying he understands businesses want to maintain their private property rights, “but there are some almost public parking lots that people should be allowed to do that (travel with a firearm) if you’re a gun carry permit holder and if you keep it in your car.”
In its current draft, the bill prevents employers from preventing employees from keeping a firearm locked in their own vehicle while parked on company property during work hours.
“It is the intent of this section to reinforce and protect the right of each citizen to lawfully transport and store firearms within his or her private motor vehicle for lawful purposes in any place where the vehicle is otherwise permitted to be,” according to the bill. Bass says he’ll move the House version after it wins approval from the Senate.
“We’re neutral and will stay that way,” said Jim Brown, Tennessee director of the National Federation of Independent Business, one of the few business groups hugging the sidelines. “We have members who are on both sides of that issue between 1st and 2nd Amendment rights.”
The governor is concerned with the “scope of location” in the Faulk-Bass legislation, according to his spokesman, but Haslam says if a deal is doable he won’t block it.
“The current bill that’s out there is overly broad, and we’d like to see it addressed some more, which I think is in the process,” the governor said.
Backing the bill is the Tennessee Firearms Association, which has been breathing down the House Republican leadership’s collective neck for the last few months for refusing to extend the state’s gun rights laws ahead of the 2012 elections.
The TFA has been pressuring lawmakers, namely Harwell and her caucus’ “shadow operatives,” to take up pro-gun bills instead of “pandering to businesses” by ignoring the legislation.
Haslam said he’s used to hearing such fighting words.
“Five times a day I’ll have somebody say, if I don’t do this, ‘we’re going to unleash all the power of fill-in-the-blank on you,’” Haslam told reporters Wednesday.
He added, though, “I think most veteran lawmakers try to figure out how to weigh all that in and don’t get overly swayed by that.”
Bass said the bill should face an up-or-down vote despite any worries it would distract the Legislature from focusing on issues like the budget and the economy.
“I think if it’s one bill, and if the people don’t like it, they’ll vote it down. That’s how the system works. We all have opinions,” he told TNReport.
A Democrat, Bass wouldn’t reveal his plans when asked Wednesday whether he’ll switch party affiliation and run in the August GOP primary.
Bass has won over John Harris, executive director of TFA, who describes Bass as a “consistent supporter of individual rights, particularly for firearms owners.”
For that matter, Harris told TNReport his organization isn’t prone to obsessing over party affiliation when assessing a lawmaker’s reliability as a right-to-keep-and-bear-arms defender. Rural Tennessee Democrats are oftentimes better friends to firearm-carry enthusiasts than urban Republicans, said Harris.
“Independent of whatever partisan label you put on him, Eddie Bass is about as strong a 2nd Amendment supporter as there is in the House,” Harris told TNReport last month when Republicans were thinking about drawing Savannah Republican Vance Dennis and Bass into the same district.
High-ranking House Democrat Mike Turner says he hasn’t recently polled his caucus on the guns in parking lots issue, but is keenly aware business interests are no fans of the idea.
“Traditionally Democrats have not supported the bill, but we’re going to actually talk about that when it comes up,” said Turner. “(Republicans) traditionally want us to bail them out in those types of situations, but we’ll see what happens with that.”
Another bill
on the docket this year would ban employers from forcing employees or job applicants to disclose whether they use, own, possess or transport a firearm unless those duties are required for the job.
The Senate Judiciary and Commerce committees expect to hear from proponents of the gun rights bills Feb. 21. The committees will then hear from opponents March 6. Faulk said he hopes the committees will vote on the measures that day.
The Department of Safety has issued 339,000 handgun carry permits to Tennesseans since it took over responsibility for that function in October of 1996, according to the agency’s website. Prior to that handgun carry permits were issued by local sheriff’s offices.
Mark Engler contributed to this report.
In Closing...
One final observation on the Employee Safe Commute bill. We are seeing and receiving conflict messages from legislators on the issue and the amount of pressure against it. That is not bad because it will help citizens in an election year in many ways.
Certainly, it is no secret given the public statements of Harwell, Maggart and McCormick that they do not want it and their opposition is derivative of the demands being placed on them by the "Big Business" bedfellows. While those three may not be in jeopardy of losing their individual seats for re-election, what is possible is putting enough influence on the seats of those legislators who put them in office to see if that mistake will be repeated.
It is also clear from news reports that Lt. Gov. Ramsey and Gov. Haslam think that the Faulk/Bass bill 'go too far.' Unfortunately, a specific written request to Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey several days ago for clarification of that reported concern has gone without the courtesy of a written clarification or for that manner any clarification.
Some House Legislators are reporting "off the record" that they have had House leadership under Harwell pressure them to avoid this bill. Some have reported, "off the record" that they have been warned not to communicate with TFA or its leadership. Some have reported, "off the record", that there is noticeable anger or frustration by House leadership over this bill that would not just quitely go away and has brought against them so much of the news attention that they wanted to avoid on firearms issues. Indeed, it may be inferred that this anger from House leadership arises from the fact that their true character and (lack of natural) support for the Second Amendment cannot be easily placed behind the curtains of political misrepresentation that exists when public focus and demands lie elsewhere.
Curiously, I am also receiving reports from inside the halls of the Legislature that the House Republican caucus will pass this bill if it gets to the floor. We are receiving reports that many rank and file House members view this issue as an important issue. Oddly, there are even reports that suggest that House leadership is perhaps realizing that the House Republican caucus will support the bill on the floor if it is not stopped by leadership in the committee system.
One conclusion that may be drawn is that too many in House Republican leadership (not all but too many) do not need to see an additional term of office in leadership within the caucus and it will be the job of voters to extract those commitments from rank and file candidates for office or find others who will make those commitments. Too many in current House leadership have let it be known from theirMount Olympus by their actions and statements that they have forgotten that they came to power to serve the people of this State not to deny them their Constitutionally protected rights.
TFA MEMBERSHIP
TFA is a grassroots organization. Membership in TFA helps support our collective efforts by covering the costs of the TFA website, its forum, these alerts, and other organizational necessities. If you are receiving these emails and are not already a member of TFA, I urge you to consider joining TFA because your support is important.
If you would like to join or renew your membership, you can do so online at this link JOIN TFA
TFALAC ALERTS - mailing list maintenance
I am asking everyone who receives this email alert to forward it to others in your gun clubs, shooting/hunting networks and anyone who you think may be interested in TFA or these free alerts. I want to try and make sure that everyone who wants these alerts is receiving them.
If you receive this alert as a forward and you want to subscribe to it, you will need to send a subscription request through this link:
Subsrcption Request
When you do, the system should send you (within 48 hours normally) a 2nd email to confirm the request. You must also respond to that confirmaiton email by simply hitting respond and then send - do not edit the subject line because it will contain a confirmation code. If your subject line is edited or in some instances truncated (thank you again AOL), then the subscription will fail.
John Harris
Executive Director
www.tennesseefirearms.com
Tennessee Firearms Association, Inc.
Legislative Action Committee
News reports from Missouri indicate Haslam accepting of Employee Safe Commute legislation but that Speake Harwell remains focused on claims by Big Business that they have a "property right" interest in interfering with the interests of those employees who commute to and from work.
Before noting the Missouri news report, note that Harwell and her operatives as well as others opposing the legislation that enables employees to provide for their own self-defense while commuting to and from work generally justify their opposition based on the "property rights" of Big Business (which we can infer are more forceful than simply whispering in the ears of those legislators). But what does that mean? What exactly is this "property rights" issue? What underlies it? Is there some detrimental impact on the value of the real property if employees are allowed to secure their personal firearms in their personal property (that is, their cars or trucks) while parked at work? Is it anything more than some elite at the upper management levels of perhaps FedEx biased preference that guns are bad? Do the shareholders of these business interests hold those same opinions? Do the employees?
While property rights are worthy of protection, property rights are not the issue. It is a question of balancing the interests of individual citizens in the effective capacity for their inherent, divine rights of self-defense against the government created and regulated rights individuals in real property. Keep in mind, that this same government feels content in regulating "property rights" to mandate ADA laws, smoking bans, parking lot size, dimensions, painting, tree and greenspace, curb dimension, general building code consideration, signage, lighting, aesthetics, allowance for guide dogs, storm water drainage, sanitation, public security. Sure, those things are justifiable infringements of property rights - but allowing an employee to determine the contents of his or her personal car in this specific instances - "no, that is going too far..." The distinction seems to be outcome oriented, at best.
http://www.tnreport.com/2012/02/guns-bill-compromise-could-win-haslam-support/
http://missouri-news.org/midwest-news/tennessee/guns-in-parking-lots-compromise-could-win-haslam-support/14092
[Note: The Missouri report was submitted by TNReport.com and includes YouTube videos from Speaker Harwell and Lt. Gov Ron Ramsey]
Gov. Bill Haslam hinted this week he wouldn’t necessarily shoot down legislation that would allow Tennessee gun owners to keep a firearm stored in their vehicle while they are at work — even over the objection of their employer.
Still, the proposal idling in the General Assembly seems “overly broad” to the governor. But during a meeting with the Capitol press corps Wednesday, Haslam suggested that if the House and Senate can pass a compromise, he’ll likely sign on.
Sen. Mike Faulk and Rep. Eddie Bass are sponsoring the legislation, which gained some traction last year but not enough to win over GOP leaders in the House.
Proponents are confident it would pass if Speaker Beth Harwell, of Nashville, and Majority Leader Gerald McCormick, of Chattanooga, were to allow the bill to come to the chamber floor for a vote.
Harwell has said she’s sensitive to employers’ private property rights, and for that reason the legislation gives her pause.
“We certainly want a piece of legislation that is business-friendly. We are not in the business of doing anything to harm the businesses that we currently have in place in Tennessee,” said Harwell, who added she’s unsure exactly what will be included or deleted from the working proposal.
Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville, strongly supports the parking-lot bill, saying he understands businesses want to maintain their private property rights, “but there are some almost public parking lots that people should be allowed to do that (travel with a firearm) if you’re a gun carry permit holder and if you keep it in your car.”
In its current draft, the bill prevents employers from preventing employees from keeping a firearm locked in their own vehicle while parked on company property during work hours.
“It is the intent of this section to reinforce and protect the right of each citizen to lawfully transport and store firearms within his or her private motor vehicle for lawful purposes in any place where the vehicle is otherwise permitted to be,” according to the bill. Bass says he’ll move the House version after it wins approval from the Senate.
“We’re neutral and will stay that way,” said Jim Brown, Tennessee director of the National Federation of Independent Business, one of the few business groups hugging the sidelines. “We have members who are on both sides of that issue between 1st and 2nd Amendment rights.”
The governor is concerned with the “scope of location” in the Faulk-Bass legislation, according to his spokesman, but Haslam says if a deal is doable he won’t block it.
“The current bill that’s out there is overly broad, and we’d like to see it addressed some more, which I think is in the process,” the governor said.
Backing the bill is the Tennessee Firearms Association, which has been breathing down the House Republican leadership’s collective neck for the last few months for refusing to extend the state’s gun rights laws ahead of the 2012 elections.
The TFA has been pressuring lawmakers, namely Harwell and her caucus’ “shadow operatives,” to take up pro-gun bills instead of “pandering to businesses” by ignoring the legislation.
Haslam said he’s used to hearing such fighting words.
“Five times a day I’ll have somebody say, if I don’t do this, ‘we’re going to unleash all the power of fill-in-the-blank on you,’” Haslam told reporters Wednesday.
He added, though, “I think most veteran lawmakers try to figure out how to weigh all that in and don’t get overly swayed by that.”
Bass said the bill should face an up-or-down vote despite any worries it would distract the Legislature from focusing on issues like the budget and the economy.
“I think if it’s one bill, and if the people don’t like it, they’ll vote it down. That’s how the system works. We all have opinions,” he told TNReport.
A Democrat, Bass wouldn’t reveal his plans when asked Wednesday whether he’ll switch party affiliation and run in the August GOP primary.
Bass has won over John Harris, executive director of TFA, who describes Bass as a “consistent supporter of individual rights, particularly for firearms owners.”
For that matter, Harris told TNReport his organization isn’t prone to obsessing over party affiliation when assessing a lawmaker’s reliability as a right-to-keep-and-bear-arms defender. Rural Tennessee Democrats are oftentimes better friends to firearm-carry enthusiasts than urban Republicans, said Harris.
“Independent of whatever partisan label you put on him, Eddie Bass is about as strong a 2nd Amendment supporter as there is in the House,” Harris told TNReport last month when Republicans were thinking about drawing Savannah Republican Vance Dennis and Bass into the same district.
High-ranking House Democrat Mike Turner says he hasn’t recently polled his caucus on the guns in parking lots issue, but is keenly aware business interests are no fans of the idea.
“Traditionally Democrats have not supported the bill, but we’re going to actually talk about that when it comes up,” said Turner. “(Republicans) traditionally want us to bail them out in those types of situations, but we’ll see what happens with that.”
Another bill
on the docket this year would ban employers from forcing employees or job applicants to disclose whether they use, own, possess or transport a firearm unless those duties are required for the job.
The Senate Judiciary and Commerce committees expect to hear from proponents of the gun rights bills Feb. 21. The committees will then hear from opponents March 6. Faulk said he hopes the committees will vote on the measures that day.
The Department of Safety has issued 339,000 handgun carry permits to Tennesseans since it took over responsibility for that function in October of 1996, according to the agency’s website. Prior to that handgun carry permits were issued by local sheriff’s offices.
Mark Engler contributed to this report.
In Closing...
One final observation on the Employee Safe Commute bill. We are seeing and receiving conflict messages from legislators on the issue and the amount of pressure against it. That is not bad because it will help citizens in an election year in many ways.
Certainly, it is no secret given the public statements of Harwell, Maggart and McCormick that they do not want it and their opposition is derivative of the demands being placed on them by the "Big Business" bedfellows. While those three may not be in jeopardy of losing their individual seats for re-election, what is possible is putting enough influence on the seats of those legislators who put them in office to see if that mistake will be repeated.
It is also clear from news reports that Lt. Gov. Ramsey and Gov. Haslam think that the Faulk/Bass bill 'go too far.' Unfortunately, a specific written request to Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey several days ago for clarification of that reported concern has gone without the courtesy of a written clarification or for that manner any clarification.
Some House Legislators are reporting "off the record" that they have had House leadership under Harwell pressure them to avoid this bill. Some have reported, "off the record" that they have been warned not to communicate with TFA or its leadership. Some have reported, "off the record", that there is noticeable anger or frustration by House leadership over this bill that would not just quitely go away and has brought against them so much of the news attention that they wanted to avoid on firearms issues. Indeed, it may be inferred that this anger from House leadership arises from the fact that their true character and (lack of natural) support for the Second Amendment cannot be easily placed behind the curtains of political misrepresentation that exists when public focus and demands lie elsewhere.
Curiously, I am also receiving reports from inside the halls of the Legislature that the House Republican caucus will pass this bill if it gets to the floor. We are receiving reports that many rank and file House members view this issue as an important issue. Oddly, there are even reports that suggest that House leadership is perhaps realizing that the House Republican caucus will support the bill on the floor if it is not stopped by leadership in the committee system.
One conclusion that may be drawn is that too many in House Republican leadership (not all but too many) do not need to see an additional term of office in leadership within the caucus and it will be the job of voters to extract those commitments from rank and file candidates for office or find others who will make those commitments. Too many in current House leadership have let it be known from theirMount Olympus by their actions and statements that they have forgotten that they came to power to serve the people of this State not to deny them their Constitutionally protected rights.
TFA MEMBERSHIP
TFA is a grassroots organization. Membership in TFA helps support our collective efforts by covering the costs of the TFA website, its forum, these alerts, and other organizational necessities. If you are receiving these emails and are not already a member of TFA, I urge you to consider joining TFA because your support is important.
If you would like to join or renew your membership, you can do so online at this link JOIN TFA
TFALAC ALERTS - mailing list maintenance
I am asking everyone who receives this email alert to forward it to others in your gun clubs, shooting/hunting networks and anyone who you think may be interested in TFA or these free alerts. I want to try and make sure that everyone who wants these alerts is receiving them.
If you receive this alert as a forward and you want to subscribe to it, you will need to send a subscription request through this link:
Subsrcption Request
When you do, the system should send you (within 48 hours normally) a 2nd email to confirm the request. You must also respond to that confirmaiton email by simply hitting respond and then send - do not edit the subject line because it will contain a confirmation code. If your subject line is edited or in some instances truncated (thank you again AOL), then the subscription will fail.
John Harris
Executive Director
www.tennesseefirearms.com