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http://www.tennessean.com/government/archives/03/03/30707407.shtml?Element_ID=30707407
from Tennessean.com
from Tennessean.com
Lawmakers kill bill to broaden gun permits
By ANNE PAINE
Staff Writer
A proposal that would let handgun permit holders carry a loaded shotgun, rifle or other firearm anywhere they can take a handgun was shot down yesterday in a House subcommittee.
The subcommittee abruptly adjourned after acting on only two of about a dozen gun-related bills that would broaden the state's gun laws, after heated responses by Rep. Ben West, sponsor of the bills, to a series of questions posed mainly by Rep. Rob Briley.
Briley, D-Nashville, asked for the adjournment, saying it didn't appear there could be a ''civilized discussion'' of the issues yesterday.
West, D-Hermitage, showed his agitation early in the meeting after Briley asked if the bill would allow any permit holder to carry a rifle, shotgun or other firearm anywhere.
''They could, in reality,'' West snapped. ''But the question is, would they? They would not.''
The purpose of the bill is to make it legal for farmers who leave their own property to keep a shotgun or rifle that they might need on their farm, for instance, hung up in the cab of their pickup, he said.
The Tennessee Firearms Association, the National Rifle Association and others are supporting the proposal, he said. The change would make the Handgun Carry Permit law into the Firearm Carry Permit law.
The General Assembly passed the handgun law in 1996, to make the process of qualifying for a handgun permit uniform throughout the state, a Safety Department official said during the meeting of the House Judiciary constitutional protections subcommittee. About 137,000 Tennesseans have permits to carry handguns, which can be loaded.
''The definition of 'firearm' is much more expansive,'' Briley said to West. A handgun has less than a 12-inch barrel.
''You can have your shotgun in the vehicle with you if it's unloaded,'' he added, questioning why this bill is needed.
West responded that anyone with a permit has been thoroughly checked out by law enforcement officials.
''These are people who are law-abiding citizens who you are downgrading,'' he told Briley, accusing him of not respecting the 137,000 handgun permit holders.
Briley said he was not ''downgrading'' anyone, but that he had questions and concerns about making such a change in the law.
Rep. Chris Newton, R-Cleveland, subcommittee chairman, cautioned that Second Amendment issues tend to make ''emotions run high'' and that everyone should stay on target.
The bill was rejected in a voice vote, with slightly more lawmakers voting against it.
The next bill would allow private employees with a handgun permit to keep a firearm in their vehicle on their employer's property. When Briley questioned West about what the bill did and also about the word ''firearm'' in the text, West again grew testy.
''It does what it says,'' West said. ''You've got the bill in front of you.
''Take it or leave it,'' he said.
The adjournment followed immediately.
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