Read more
Gov. Haslam signs guns-in-parks bill to allow firearms into local parks, playgrounds, ballfields
Dear Gov. Haslam,
We commend your thoughtful letter to members of the Tennessee General Assembly whose guns-in-parks legislation you signed into law on Friday — the same legislation that in essence overrides local laws prohibiting guns in our local parks.
In the letter, you wrote: “I think it is critical going forward that we work together with local leaders to assess the impact of this law and that we all listen and respond to the questions and concerns of those leaders as they work to implement it successfully.”
That was nice of you, Governor. But we wonder why, in retrospect, you didn’t think it was critical to work together with local leaders when they they wanted to head off the impact of this law. Good heavens, you used to be one of them when, as mayor of Knoxville, you opposed similar legislation!