NASHVILLE – Democratic state Senate candidate Glenn Scruggs, an assistant Chattanooga police chief, says it was irresponsible for incumbent Republican Sen. Todd Gardenhire to vote in support of a 2015 law allowing Tennesseans with state-issued handgun permits to go armed in parks.
In a video on his Twitter feed, Scruggs refers to a rally last weekend in Chattanooga’s Coolidge Park where, he said, “folks were walking around with rifles out and pistols exposed.
“Coolidge Park – the same park where I take my son Jalen to play. The same park where you take your families to play and enjoy themselves as well,” Scruggs said. “The imagery of that, the thought of me playing football and playing around with Jalen and looking over my shoulder and seeing armed people walk down the sidewalks with rifles and pistols out, I know it upset my family because we talked about it. I know many of you were upset as well.
“Someone thought that was a great idea. And they passed it through the General Assembly and a bunch of senators up there voted for it,” Scruggs said, noting then-Gov. Bill Haslam signed the measure into law.
“One of those senators who helped that become a law was our current senator, Todd Gardenhire. Todd voted to allow folks the ability to walk through public parks with rifles out. Who thought that was a great idea? It was irresponsible then, it is irresponsible now,” Scruggs said.