Several bills related to gun control were introduced into the Tennessee Legislature during the last session. The purpose of these laws vary widely, some dealing with new ways to hold people responsible for their weapons, and others looking to allow permit owners to carry in more areas.
Possibly the most radical of the bills is the Ammunition Accountability Act, sponsored by Rep. Larry Miller (D-Memphis) in the House and Sen. Reginald Tate (D-Memphis) in the Senate. The bill, if enacted, would require all handgun ammunition manufactured or sold in the state of Tennessee to be labeled with a serial number. The serial numbers would be stored in a statewide database along with the personal information of the purchaser, including the purchaser’s name, date of birth and driver’s license number.
On its Web site, the National Rifle Association said the bill was “a serious threat to our Right to Keep and Bear Arms and needs to be stopped immediately.”
“The NRA has been very vocal about opposing any kind of measures that would require a registry of law-abiding gun owners,” said NRA spokeswoman Rachel Parsons. “This bill would do nothing to help law enforcement catch criminals or prevent crime. Not only that, it’s a waste of taxpayers’ money that would be better spent on traditional police enforcement.”
“Compared to the federal assault weapons ban, it’s a move in the right direction,” MTSU student and gun hobbyist Jason Grissom said. “But it overlooks a huge problem in that gun enthusiasts use something called ?reloading,’ so you end up having no idea how many hands the bullet has passed through.”
Reloading is the process of reusing a bullet’s casing by replacing the primer, the powder and the actual bullet. Reloaded shells are often sold between gun enthusiasts.
The bill was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee early in the session, but did not come to a vote in 2008.
But not all of the proposed laws seek to tighten gun regulations. Some seek to do just the opposite.
One such law would allow handgun-carry permit owners to carry guns into a restaurants that serve alcohol, so long as they are not consuming alcohol.
“Obviously restaurants aren’t immune to criminal attack,” said Parsons. “Law-abiding citizens who have obtained their carry permit should be able to take their weapon into restaurants to defend themselves and their family and other patrons. Thirty-four other states currently allow restaurant-carry and there have been no problems or attempts to repeal these laws.”
“It makes sense to carry a gun into a bar for self-defense, but it feels like this could go very badly very easily,” said Grissom. “It’s not likely to do anything because the sort of people who would go into a bar and drink illegally are still going to do that, and any kind of substance use already voids a gun permit.”
The restaurant carry bill is currently in committee.
Another bill, which failed in the Senate, would have allowed full-time staff and faculty of schools, colleges and universities to carry guns onto campuses.
“If you’ve obtained your permit, and you’re going to carry a gun, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be able to bring it to work, so long as your job is okay with it,” said Grissom. “But regardless of whether it’s your job, school or car, you’re always going to have those cases where someone is irresponsible and someone gets a gun who isn’t supposed to.”
“The NRA is supportive of a national dialogue about how to keep students safe while at university,” said Parsons. “So we’re open to talk to parents, teachers, faculty members, members of legislature, and the police. We just think there should be an open dialogue about what’s best to protect our students. If that’s for trained concealed-carry permit holders to carry onto campuses, then we support that.”
Other bills the assembly considered included a bill allowing permit owners to carry guns in state parks (which failed in the Senate), a bill making it illegal for certain convicted felons to possess any firearms instead of just handguns (still in committee), and a bill prohibiting private property owners from posting signs forbidding the legal possession of guns on their property, which is also in committee.
The Tennessee General Assembly will reconvene in January, probably with some new members after the November election.
