NASHVILLE — A lawmaker sponsoring legislation allowing handguns to be carried in local parks said today he has “cut a deal” with Gov. Phil Bredesen in which he will drop the provision in exchange for the governor agreeing not to veto another bill affecting guns in establishments selling alcohol.
Rep. Frank Nicely, R-Strawberry Plains, said that under the agreement the Legislature will recall his guns-in-parks bill and eliminate a section that allows handgun-carry permit holders to go armed in city and county parks.
The Nicely bill still would allow permit holders to go armed in state parks.
In exchange, Rep. Nicely said, Gov. Bredesen, a Democrat, agreed not to veto another bill related to the bill allowing permit holders to go armed in establishments selling alcohol.
“We’re taking out the local parks in return for the governor’s commitment not to veto any more gun bills,” Rep. Nicely said. “The governor’s goal is the same as my goal. We want our children and wives to be safe. I think they’re safer by not creating safe havens for criminals.”
Gov. Bredesen recently vetoed a bill allowing permit holders to bring their weapons into establishments selling alcohol provided they did not drink and the establishment did not post signs banning guns.
Gun rights proponents easily overrode Gov. Bredesen’s veto. But faced with threats by Nashville to use its beer board to deny beer permits to such establishments, lawmakers plan to amend another bill preventing such a move.
Earlier in the day, the Web site Post Politics reported that the Tennessee Firearms Association sent out an alert that Gov. Bredesen planned to veto the parks bill unless it was changed. The bill had a provision say permit holders could go armed in local parks unless a city or county government specifically exempted the park from the law’s application.
For complete details, see tomorrow's Chattanooga Times Free Press.
Andy Sher is a Nashville-based staff writer covering Tennessee state government and politics for the Times Free Press. A Washington correspondent from 1999-2005 for the Times Free Press, Andy previously headed up state Capitol coverage for The Chattanooga Times, worked as a state Capitol reporter for The Nashville Banner and was a contributor to The Tennessee Journal, among other publications. Andy worked for 17 years at The Chattanooga Times covering police, health care, county government, ...
This seems very backwards. Someone hiking alone in the woods of a park needs personal protection from the elements as well as from a lone criminal. When shots are fired it's usually around fewer people, thus lowering the level of someone getting shot accidentally.
It comes down to personal protection and when someone is firing shots in a crowded area, it no longer about the gun owners personal protection. The safety of those around him can come into jeopardy as well, either from the criminal going after the gun owner or from ricochet. I'm sure "wives and children" go into these places (no 21 and up establishments)much more than they do the woods of public parks for that very reason--safety in numbers.
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