State Sen. Todd GardenhireNASHVILLE – Sen. Todd Gardenhire is drawing fire from a gun-advocacy group which charges the Chattanooga Republican helped cause the failure of a bill that sought to let all Tennesseans ages 21 legally able to possess a weapon to carry a handgun without a permit.
The “constitional carry” bill failed on a 4-4 vote with Gardenhire abstaining. It required five votes to proceed to the Senate floor.
Following the vote, the Tennessee Firearms Association sharply criticized Gardenhire and Sen. John Stevens, R-Huntington, who voted no.
In its news release, the association charged “Constitutional Carry Held Hostage by broken oaths in Tennessee Senate.”
“Sen. Gardenhire ‘passed’ – that is he pulled a Barack Obama and was ‘present but not voting,'” said the group, headed by John Harris, in a news release.