A bill that passed the Tennessee House and is awaiting action in the Senate puts the onus on local governments to keep guns out of their property, where the law permits them, even though the governments never wanted them in the first place.
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For example, many municipal officials in the state didn't want licensed gun permit holders to be able to bring their weapons into a park. But a 2015 law passed in the General Assembly says they can. Now, the pending measure would allow local governments to forbid the guns only if they have at least one security guard at each public entrance to operate a handheld, walk-through, or other type of metal detector, and check people's bags.
We think such a law would be an unfunded mandate and would be asking too much of municipalities, which didn't want the weapons in the first place but now would have to pony up money for guards and metal detectors if they want to be sure weapons are not entering their property.
Imagine the chaos for the thousands of guests at Coolidge Park for the free Pops on the River concert, which is produced by Chattanooga Presents.
People stream in from all sides of the 13-acre park - from wherever they can find a parking place on the North Shore - with their picnic baskets, their blankets and their children in tow. They come from the Walnut Street Bridge (an official park itself), from between the buildings on Frazier Avenue, from Renaissance Park on the other side of the Market Street Bridge, from the shops that line the park and from areas east of the Chattanooga Theatre Centre.
To forbid guns and continue the tradition of the pops concerts, Chattanooga Presents officials would have to block off all but a few entrances to the park and funnel people through those entrances. At those entrances, they would have to employ guards and metal detectors they don't currently have.
The organization's interest in presenting the concert and families' interest in waiting in a long line to attend the concert would likely take steep nosedives.
The bill would exempt some municipal facilities, including schools, libraries, parks used by schools, judiciary buildings, law enforcement agencies, mental health centers, Department of Children's Services offices and Head Start agencies.
The sponsor of the bill, state Rep. William Lamberth, R-Cottontown, is right about one thing.
"It's simply not working to just slap a sign up and expect people to not bring guns into [a] facility," he said.
But is society at the point where many public facilities and buildings must have individual security or freely allow guns? We hope not.