http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/state/article/0,1406,KNS_348_5492294,00.html
call your congresspeoples and tell them to support this!
btw, i have it on good authority that Rep. Frank Niceley, R-Strawberry Plains, who behind this bill, is a really great guy. we should call/email and thank him.
House vote permits guns in more places
By TOM HUMPHREY, [email protected]
April 19, 2007
NASHVILLE - In a surprise move, a House panel voted Wednesday to repeal a state law that forbids the carrying of handguns on property and buildings owned by state, county and city governments - including parks and playgrounds.
"I think the recent Virginia disaster - or catastrophe or nightmare or whatever you want to call it - has woken up a lot of people to the need for having guns available to law-abiding citizens," said Rep. Frank Niceley, R-Strawberry Plains. "I hope that is what this vote reflects."
As amended, the legislation still wouldn't allow guns on school property, however.
Niceley's bill aimed to let people holding handgun carry permits take their weapons onto state park property, which is now forbidden.
But when Niceley brought the bill before the Criminal Practice Subcommittee, a branch of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Rob Briley, D-Nashville, promptly proposed an amendment to expand its scope.
"We've been piecemealing this thing year after year," Briley said. "Why don't we just let you take your gun anywhere you want to?"
Tennessee's handgun carry law includes a listing of places where permit holders are forbidden to take their weapons. Briley has proposed an amendment that repeals a provision prohibiting guns "in or on the grounds of any public park, playground, civic center or other building facility, area or property owned, used or operated by any municipal, county or state government, or instrumentality thereof."
With very little debate, the amendment was quickly approved on a voice vote with only Rep. Janis Sontany, D-Nashville, chairman of the subcommittee, audibly shouting, "No!"
She then asked Niceley if he had any comments before the bill, as amended, faced a final vote in the panel.
"I'm in shock, and I can't talk," replied Niceley, though quickly adding he thought Briley's proposal was "a good amendment."
The panel then approved the overall bill, sending it to the full House Judiciary Committee for a vote next week. Briley is chairman of the committee.
Niceley said afterward that Tennessee should join other states that basically allow licensed people to take their handguns "anywhere they want."
The Briley amendment does not go that far, having no impact on separate provisions of the law that, for example, forbid guns on school grounds, in courtrooms or in establishments that serve alcoholic beverages.
But Briley, Sontany and others said afterward that it would allow permit holders to take their guns on most other state, county or city government property - including the Legislative Plaza, where signs are now posted to prohibit weapons except those carried by law enforcement officers.
Briley said in an interview that he and a handful of other legislators in subcommittees have borne the brunt of harsh criticism from some gun owners for opposing past efforts to "nibble away" at restrictions on where handguns can be taken.
"This has been on the backs of just a few people," he said. "Now it's time for other people to stand up and say, 'We want these protections in the law' - or not."
Asked about Niceley's comment that the Virginia Tech slayings earlier this week had awakened people to the need for easing of restrictions on licensed holders of handgun carry permits, he replied in the negative.
"Anybody who would make an attempt to score cheap political points over that tragedy and what we did in (the committee room) is disgusting and sick," he said.
Sontany said she thought Briley acted unwisely "in the heat of the moment" and that the bill ultimately would be defeated.
Niceley said that critics of the handgun carry law protested when it passed that "wild West" situations would be created, but permit holders have proven themselves responsible over the years. He said he knows of only one case where a permit holder used a weapon in a violent crime.
In Tennessee, 172,828 people held legal permits as of January, according to Mike Browning, spokesman for the state Department of Safety, which issues the licenses.
Rep. Curry Todd, R-Collierville, said he had decided earlier to give up this year on his push for legislation to allow permit holders to take their handguns into restaurants serving alcoholic beverages, feeling it had little chance of passage.
Todd said, however, that he has been approached by another legislator about a push to allow handguns on college campuses though "I don't know if this is the proper time to do that" in light of the Virginia Tech shootings.
Tom Humphrey may be reached at 615-242-7782.
call your congresspeoples and tell them to support this!
btw, i have it on good authority that Rep. Frank Niceley, R-Strawberry Plains, who behind this bill, is a really great guy. we should call/email and thank him.
