Gov. Bill Haslam took the coward’s way out Monday when he chose to allow Tennessee’s guns-on-campus bill to become law without his signature.
The new law, which takes effect July 1, allows full-time faculty, staff and other employees of Tennessee’s public colleges and universities to carry their guns on campus.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam talks with reporters earlier this month in Nashville. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)The legislation had been opposed by every stakeholder – campus police, law enforcement, college presidents, the Tennessee Board of Regents, student government associations and citizens.
In fact, the only organization supporting the bill is the National Rifle Association, according to the Safe Tennessee Project, a nonpartisan grassroots organization that supports the Second Amendment but is dedicated to addressing the epidemic of gun-related injuries and gun violence in Tennessee.
You know the NRA – the group that isn’t you’re grandfather’s hunting rifle club anymore but now is the de facto trade association for gun makers and ammunition manufacturers. It also is the group that bankrolls and owns politicians – especially in Tennessee, the state that recently named a Barrett sniper rifle as the state gun.
And make no mistake: as soon as Haslam shirked off his responsibility and announced in a letter that he would let this become law without his signature because the bill was “shaped to accommodate some concerns” of higher education officials, the NRA began the work of wringing yet another senseless and so-called gun-rights bill from our lawmakers.
The “important next step” is to allow students to go armed on campus, as well, according to the faculty-carry bill’s House sponsor, Rep. Andy Holt, R-Dresden. “My intention is to eliminate all gun-free zones, whether it’s the Legislature or a college campus,” he said just after Haslam’s announcement.
Forget Gov. Haslam’s recent call for more post-secondary education and free two-year college: Perhaps it’s time to homeschool our college kids.
But closer to home, just how did this vote go down and what does it mean here at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, at UTC and at Chattanooga State Community College?
In the Senate where the bill passed 28-5 on April 19, ayes included Sens. Mike Bell, R-Riceville (the bill’s Senate sponsor); Bo Watson, R-Hixson; Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga; Janice Bowling, R-Tullahoma, and Paul Bailey, R-Sparta. In short, all of the Senate’s Republicans voted for the bill, while all five Democrats voted against it.
In the House where the bill passed 69-24 on April 20, ayes came from Reps. Marc Gravitt, R-East Ridge; Gerald McCormick, R-Chattanooga; Mike Carter, R-Ooltewah; Kevin Brooks, R-Cleveland; Dan Howell, R-Georgetown; Ron Travis, R-Dayton, and David Alexander, R-Winchester. Rep. Patsy Hazlewood, R-Signal Mountain, voted no, and Rep. Joanne Favors, D-Chattanooga, apparently didn’t vote.
Those Tennessee college workers taking their guns to work and school must have handgun-carry permits and must notify the local law enforcement agency with primary responsibility for security on their campus – campus police, for example. The new law prohibits the employees from carrying their guns in arenas and stadiums when public events like football and basketball games are underway. And they cannot carry guns in meetings in which their job performance or tenure is discussed.
University of Tennessee President Joe DiPietro is not happy.
“Our position has been and continues to be that we do not support, as a general premise, any measure that would increase the number of guns on college campuses other than already are allowed by law,” DiPietro said in a statement. “To us, the governor’s position of allowing the two higher education boards to decide for themselves gun policy for their campuses would have been ideal.”
At UTC, Associate Vice Chancellor for Communication Chuck Cantrell said “We will be abiding by the law. It’s is too early to say exactly what policies will be put into place to implement the law.”
Chattanooga State’s Chief of Campus Police Curtis Greene couldn’t be reached for comment.
But the Tennessee General Assembly and the governor didn’t just leave it at that during this session. Lawmakers also passed and the governor signed two other gun bills that usher the way to make it easier for students (and others) to carry guns on campus and elsewhere. One measure would lower the fee for obtaining a lifetime handgun permit from $500 to $200. The other would lower the carry age from 21 years old to 18 if the carrier was honorably discharged or an active-duty member of the military.
Tennessee joined nine other states that have policies allowing guns to be carried on campuses, according to a report published earlier this year by the Education Commission of the States and NASPA – Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education.
On Tuesday, Georgia did not become the 11th. Gov. Nathan Deal vetoed a measure that would have allowed anyone over the age of 21 to carry a weapon on public campuses.
Beth Joslin Roth, policy director for Safe Tennessee Project, rightly blasted Gov. Haslam and lawmakers, noting they rejected the recommendation of law enforcement and ridiculed the concerns of administrators, faculty and students.
“Our legislature’s loyalty lies with the NRA, and not with the Tennesseans who will be affected by this bill,” Roth said.