Another anti-carry editorial from the Memphis Commercial Appeal

[Seminole]

This is the editorial from the Memphis Commercial Appeal from 09 March. The CA has been pontificating for some time now against the expansion of places Handgun Carry Permit Holders can carry and also posted an online database of people with permits to carry handguns in the state of TN.

It's hard to know where to begin with this nonsense, but note the use of arrest figures as if they were somehow relevant. In the first place, an arrest does not equal conviction of a crime. Secondly, every study I've seen on the subject says that there is a lower percentage of carry permit holders convicted of violent crimes than the percentage of police officers convicted of violent crimes.

At any rate, I never did find the story that the editorial mentions. Did anyone else see it?

Finally, if having citizens carry handguns is such a bad idea, why would the CA state that "the current restrictions on handguns are where they should be"? If citizens are not to be trusted, surely the only intellectually defensible position would be that "restrictions on handguns" should be expanded!

Editorial: Hopeful signs in gun debate
The rush to expand the range of handgun permit holders in Tennessee might be slowing

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Some encouraging signs appeared last week that the rush to expand the territory in which handguns can be carried in Tennessee might be slowing down.

That doesn't mean that citizens concerned about the drive to expand the range of handgun carriers should relax. Members of the General Assembly still need to hear from people on both sides of the debate.

But there is hope that serious thought is being given to this movement.

In the House, a bill allowing handgun carry permit holders to carry in local parks was amended to give city councils and county commissions some discretion.

And legislators also put off for a week any movement on a bill that would allow guns to be carried into restaurants that serve alcohol, where they are now banned.

An industry representative has spoken out in opposition. Restaurateurs surely deserve some consideration by legislators, none of whom would want to try to lure customers back into a place where gunplay has erupted.

Also delayed for a week was a bill closing public access to all information on Tennessee's 218,000 gun carry permit holders. The bill also would criminalize the publication of information from the list, but its sponsor is considering the possibility of, instead, reassuring permit holders that they have the right to sue if they believe they've been harmed by publication -- a more reasonable approach.

The merit in maintaining a public list is graphically illustrated by The Commercial Appeal reporter Marc Perrusquia in today's editions. Dozens of people with violent histories have received permits to carry handguns in Tennessee in recent years.

More than 70 Shelby County handgun carry permit holders have arrest histories, Perrusquia reported, including some charged with robbery, assault, domestic violence and other serious offenses.

That and two fatal shootings by handgun carry permit holders in Memphis in recent weeks should discredit the myth that everyone in possession of a handgun carry permit has been carefully screened, has never committed a crime and always shows good judgment and anger management skills.

That description probably fits most permit holders. But it would be a mistake to assume that it fits them all.

Bills that would allow handguns in state parks and state wildlife management areas and refuges advanced in the House last week.

But in another sign that this legislation could get closer scrutiny, the Senate Judiciary Committee formed an ad hoc committee to study all of the new gun bills that have been filed.

The study should be undertaken with care, but without dragging this discussion on much longer.

The General Assembly must turn its attention eventually to the financial crisis facing state colleges and universities, health care deficiencies, job losses and other threats to Tennesseans' quality of life.

The current restrictions on handguns are where they should be.

 

[Tennesseean]

Oh bleh...

Well, I never expected this to be an easy fight.

I suppose I still have some letters to write / phone calls to make.

C'mon fellow TN folks, let's do our part!

 

[Seminole]

Johnny, I'm aware of that incident as well as the one in Cordova where a CHP holder shot someone else after a parking dispute. What I can't find is the story in Sunday's paper by Marc Perrusquia that is mentioned in the editorial and that supposedly discusses the allegation that "more than 70 Shelby County handgun carry permit holders have arrest histories. . .including some charged with robbery, assault, domestic violence and other serious offenses."

 

[Hikingman]

Errr, in my locale (not Tennessee) the city police run a background check before the paperwork ever reaches the State. What about 'real' background checks for people living in Memphis City limits? From what I remember, the city has gobbled up most of Shelby county.

 

[Seminole]

Here are Marc stories for the last 18 months.Can't find that one.Maybe age creeping in?Are you sure it was yesterdays paper?

So says the editorial, Johnny--and far be it from me to question the veracity of a Commercial Appeal editorial. . . .

As you can guess, I think that, if it can't be found, the mention of the story in the editorial is another example of the CA's incompetence.

 

[foghornl]

Been many years, since I lived/worked in Memphis, but that is one of the reason I called that fishwrap......ahhh "newspaper" the Comical Apple...