Gov. Haslam, Republican leaders clash on allowing firearms in Capitol complex

Tennessee Democratic leaders, gun safety group decry plan to open Legislative Plaza to gun-permit holders

In this 2011 file photo, Occupy Nashville protestor Duncan McAfee relaxes on an air mattress after checking it for leaks in a fountain at Legislative Plaza in Nashville, Tenn.
In this 2011 file photo, Occupy Nashville protestor Duncan McAfee relaxes on an air mattress after checking it for leaks in a fountain at Legislative Plaza in Nashville, Tenn.
photo Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville
photo House Speaker Beth Harwell, R-Nashville, answers questions at the Tennessee Press Association convention, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
photo Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam talks about education and his budget to the editorial board at the Times Free Press.

NASHVILLE -- Are Tennessee's executive and legislative branches barreling toward a constitutional crisis over whether to let handgun owners go armed in parts of the state Capitol complex?

Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville, and House Speaker Beth Harwell, R-Nashville, revealed Thursday they decided last month to remove signs barring permit holders from bringing their weapons into Legislative Plaza and the War Memorial Building.

But Republican Gov. Bill Haslam's office said statutory authority over the two legislative buildings, as well as the Capitol building, actually rests with the governor.

"General Services has statutory authority of Legislative Plaza and War Memorial Building," Safety Department spokeswoman Jennifer Donnals said in an email Thursday.

"Since it is the Legislature's work environment," she said, "the governor is willing to discuss the logistical questions and complicating practical implications of lifting the ban in [Legislative Plaza] and [War Memorial Building], such as the potential need for more security checkpoints leading up to the Capitol, but feels strongly that guns are not carried in the Capitol."

Adam Kleinheider, Ramsey's spokesman, said the Senate speaker's position is "the General Assembly is a distinct and separate branch of state government. The two speakers maintain control over legislative facilities. That has been the case for decades and remains the case today."

The Legislative Plaza is an underground bunker filled with lawmakers' offices and committee rooms. The War Memorial Building also contains lawmakers' offices. The Legislative Plaza connects to the state Capitol via an underground tunnel.

Meanwhile, some Democratic lawmakers and a gun safety group object to Ramsey and Harwell's plan.

"The presence of armed, possibly untrained individuals in the crowded hallways of Legislative Plaza creates potential for risk for members, staff and visitors," Senate Minority Leader Lee Harris, D-Memphis, warned in a statement.

Rep. John Ray Clemmons, D-Nashville, said he has safety concerns, too.

"Although most permit holders are law-abiding citizens, there are too many unintentional shootings by permit holders," he said.

Earlier Thursday, Ramsey said he and Harwell had intended to remove all signs prohibiting firearms in January.

But Ramsey said they held off until the Department of Safety's Tennessee Highway Patrol, which is in charge of state Capitol complex security including Legislative Plaza and the War Memorial Building, address the patrol's own "logistical concerns."

Critics have long accused majority Republicans of hypocrisy by maintaining the General Assembly's decades-old "gun-free zone" status, even as GOP lawmakers push every year to expand places where 500,000 permit holders can carry their weapons and override local restrictions.

Last year, Sen. Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, sought to call GOP lawmakers' bluff, offering up an amendment overriding local government bans on guns. Yarbro's amendment opened up the state Capitol complex to permit holders. Republican majority senators adopted it.

But Haslam objected and House Republican representatives balked. The provision was stripped out with little comment by a House/Senate conference committee on the bill.

And both chambers then passed the bill simply overriding local park bans on permit holders carrying weapons there.

"I'm ready to take the signs down anytime," Ramsey told reporters Thursday, adding he expects that to happen within a few weeks.

The move "started back in September when Beth actually called me and said, 'What do you think about taking these signs down?'" Ramsey said. "And I said, 'I've been for it all along.' So we said let's start working through this."

The proposal will not affect the actual state Capitol. But again, since Legislative Plaza is connected to the Capitol via the underground tunnel, it is expected to result in the considerable beefing up of the Highway Patrol's presence at the tunnel's entrance.

Harwell smiled when reporters informed her that Ramsey was crediting her with the idea.

"To be consistent, we felt the Legislative Plaza should be open to gun permit carry holders," said Harwell, who didn't acknowledge starting the conversation but didn't exactly deny it either.

"I actually met with the Highway Patrol," Harwell told reporters. "They're still thinking about how we will implement it - security and other issues. So I don't know that we're ready to go yet. But we have discussed it."

Beth Joslin Roth, director of the Safe Tennessee Project, criticized the decision.

"Contrary to the myths we hear at Legislative Plaza, allowing more guns where they were previously prohibited will only increase the likelihood of unintentional shootings," Roth said. "That's why the Tennessee Highway Patrol has repeatedly opposed these efforts, and will likely still oppose guns in the Capitol."

Less than six weeks into 2016, she said, Tennessee already has seen 10 unintentional shootings resulting in the deaths of two children and one adult.

House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick, R-Chattanooga, said, "I don't have any problem with it. If they're licensed permit holders I think they'd be probably safe to have them in here."

While some lawmakers worry about the presence of guns amid the high emotions that routinely accompany various hot-button issues under consideration, McCormick quipped, "that's why [former Democratic Caucus Chairman] Mike Turner and I never carried guns around Legislative Plaza. We figured we'd either shoot each other or somebody else."

Rep. JoAnne Favors, D-Chattanooga, shuddered when asked what she thought of the plan as she emerged from the House chamber, which is located on the Capitol's second floor.

"Oooh, I'm going to see if they'll provide me with some armor," Favors said. "Some of the people who come in, we won't know whether or not they're having an emotional meltdown or something. And that's going to be troubling to me. Many times, we get emotional about what is happening and somebody can pull out a gun."

"We got an old gun hole in there already. No, I'd feel very uncomfortable with that," said Favors, alluding to chip marks on a marble banister on the staircase leading from the Capitol's second floor to the first floor.

Tennessee lore holds they are bullet marks caused when Reconstruction-era Gov. William Brownlow ordered the militia to fire to prevent legislators from seeking to flee the Capitol to avoid a vote.

Contact Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com, 615-255-0550 or follow via twitter at AndySher1.

Upcoming Events