The TN GOP, despite being hamstrung by the traitorous actions of their Speaker, is trying to move forward on some of the issues that ex-Speaker Naifeh had blocked for years. One of these issues has been the right to carry your handgun, after jumping through all the required wickets to qualify for a carry permit, into restaurants that serve alcohol or in parks. Of course, this immediately drives the liberals up the wall, causing them to rant about the evil of guns, and how we must immediately ban them from all aspects of society. After all, if we pass enough restrictions on gun rights the criminals will be certain to lay down their arms! They certainly wouldn't want to break the law while they break the law, would they?
The
Commercial Appeal Editorial column today (2/20/2009) was typical insanity from the left. The quote "Do we really want loaded handguns on the golf course? At our favorite picnic sites? On the sidelines of our kid's soccer games? At the table next to us at our favorite steakhouse?" is prime example of liberal lack of logic. Dear Commercial Appeal; NEWS BULLETIN, the handguns are already there! It's just the trained, law-abiding citizen who doesn't have them! The guy at the next table has one, but he's a gang-banger! These people actually believe that there are no guns in Overton Park, simply because the law says that you can't have them there! They are already are there. The crooks have them. All you are managing to do is keep the law abiding citizen from having them. The bad guys are laughing...
They also argue that the provision banning guns in a restaurant serving alcohol after 11 pm is a concession to the "fact" that guns are dangerous at anytime. Please. Actually, that provision is stupid. I should be able to carry my legal, licensed pistol anywhere, at any time. Again, the criminals do already.
Finally, the editorial points out that one of the measures under discussion "is in reaction to the recent discovery by permit holders of an electronic database on The Commercial Appeal's Web site listing what has been a public record. One hopes that the backlash over that discovery will give way to some thought about the consequences of handgun proliferation."
No, CA, one would have hoped that your political bias against citizens legally and responsibly possessing guns would not have led to your making it easy for anyone with a web connection to get the NAME AND CITY of any person who has a carry permit. For those of you unaware of this move, or living somewhere other than the Greater Memphis Area, the CA recently the ability for you to see who has carry permits to their site! I went there, punched "gun owners" into the search box, and got a link to the data base. Punched in one of the local zip codes and got the names of two carry permit holders. Clicked details on one and got this (name removed because i care about this citizen's safety, even if the CA doesn't!):
Last Name XXXXXX
First Name XXXXXX
Middle Name
Suffix
Birth year 1974
City MILLINGTON
State TN
ZIP 38054
Issue Date 11/17/2006
Exp Date 11/7/2010
Isn't that special? The TN GOP must have thought so, because they are proposing a measure that "would create an exception to the public records law for the list of Tennesseans with handgun carry permits. It would also criminalize the publication of that list." Of course, the CA sees this as an assault on their First Amendment rights to provide information to criminals on citizens daring to exercise their Second Amendment rights! Looking at some of the comments at the end of this editorial, I would say your readers don't agree.
In the interest of full disclosure, let me close by stating that I do not have a carry permit. I work on a military installation, and don't really go to the city much (and almost never after dark), so my need for one is negligible. I do however, own a handgun, and have for around a quarter-century. Since my oldest daughter is a bit younger than that, and has survived being in the same house as a loaded weapon all that time, I don't buy the "guns in the home kill kids" meme. I still have it, loaded, and nothing stands in the way of my using it quickly in my family's defense. I just hope the poor bastard that comes up against it in the middle of the night is a Commercial Appeal reader, and that he checked to see if I was in that silly database. SURPRISE!!!!