Staff Photo by Allison Kwesell
A sign prohibiting firearms is seen at the Tennessee Riverpark. The Hamilton County commission voted to ban firearms in Hamilton County parks on Wednesday.Chances are, in the next 10 years, there will be an opportunity for someone to legally protect herself, for someone to legally protect his family or for several someones to legally protect nearby children with a gun in a park, playground or ball field in Tennessee.
But is that chance, in which a gun may not have been produced to create danger in the first place, worth the possibility of various scenarios in parks, playgrounds and ball fields over the same time where guns may be pulled in anger, in family disputes or over drug deals?
That is what is at risk if the Tennessee Senate passes a bill that would override local bans on guns in those locales. The bill, which applies only to people with state-issued handgun carry permits, passed the state House on Monday night.
Proponents may point out that as state handgun carry permits rose between 2008 and 2013, “crimes against persons” involving a firearm fell. That’s true if the bookend years are used but not accurate about year over year gun crimes.
Parks, playgrounds and ball fields are natural draws for people to gather, but they also bring out the good, the bad and the ugly. If the bill passes, each of those places — often teeming with children — will be filled with adults, many of whom will have guns.
Imagine what could happen:
* A father pushes his child on a merry-go-round and then hops on with him. His gun falls out of his pocket and is picked up by another child, who innocently points it at the child on the merry-go-round and pulls the trigger.
* A mother watching her daughter play softball leaves the stands for a moment to give her daughter a hair barrette. A teenager sitting beside her sees a gun in the mother’s open purse and, just out of curiosity, picks it up. It goes off in the crowded stands.
* Grandparents see another adult across the park talking to their grandchild. When they leave the park, they confront what turns out to be the wrong adult, who becomes incensed. Both sides pull out guns. One is used.
The current law, where local control determines in which park settings — or whether — guns might be appropriate, leaves the decision where it should be. The Senate should vote down the bill and keep control where it belongs.