By Chas Sisk
Gun rights advocates in Tennessee are embracing an Arizona law that does away with a requirement that handgun owners get a permit before carrying their weapons in public - part of a more aggressive push to loosen state gun laws next year.
After being shut out last spring, gun rights supporters are planning to step up pressure on the Republican-led legislature to ease at least some of the state's rules on carrying a handgun before they leave to campaign for re-election next year.
Their wish list includes opening all parks in the state to handguns and making it easier to carry guns into school and workplace parking lots. Advocates also plan to test the water for legislation modeled after a law passed in Arizona in 2010 that would make a handgun carry permit optional, in what would be the broadest change to Tennessee's gun laws in nearly 20 years.