The fact the overwhelming number of crimes involving guns are carried out by people who don't own those guns legally is no reason to loosen Tennessee's decades-old handgun carry permit law.
A bill that would have allowed any state resident 21 or older who can legally buy a firearm to carry a handgun - either concealed or in the open - failed to pass out of the state Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this week. It would have superseded the current carry permit law, which requires criminal background checks, firearms training and a fee.
A simple majority of the nine votes would have moved the legislation to the Senate floor, but state Sen. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga, and a handgun permit holder, abstained, leaving the vote 4-4-1.
"I'm a strong believer in the Second Amendment," he said, having told the bill's sponsor beforehand he wouldn't vote for it or against it. "But this bill has come up time and time again [and is] way out of line."
The bill, among other things, disenfranchises people between age 18, when you can legally possess a gun, and 21, Gardenhire said. People at 18 can join the military, he said, but wouldn't be able to carry a handgun in the state.
He also said the National Rifle Association had made it clear it was taking a pass on the bill and didn't plan on using it in grading legislators on their gun rights record.
It's common sense that any Tennessean who can legally buy a firearm should be able to pass a background check. To date, some 535,000 have.
The applicant, for instance, must be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident, must not have been convicted of a felony punishable for a term exceeding one year, must not be under indictment for a criminal offense punishable by a term exceeding a year, must not be under the subject of an order of protection, must not have been convicted of certain crimes of domestic violence, must not have been convicted of stalking and, among other things, must not have been adjudicated as a mental defective.
The unlawful use of alcohol and controlled substances is also part of the background check.
Imagine removing restrictions on some of those applicants - certain felons, domestic violence perpetrators, persons with some mental illnesses, and alcohol and drug abusers - and putting a gun on their person. It's frightening.
Even a strong gun rights advocate like Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey doesn't believe the bill is necessary.
"I think this separates the law-abiding citizens from the non-law-abiding citizens," he said.
A companion bill in the House has been removed from its civil justice subcommittee, effectively ending any action in that body this year.
Tennessee legislators in the past several years have not been shy about promoting and passing gun bills they believe are sound and safe. This isn't one of them. It has been attempted since 2011 without success. It's time to let it go.