On it’s way to Governor Haslam, who’s not keen on it.
We have a very weak executive office in TN. It takes 60 votes in the house to pass a bill, but only 51 to override a veto. The bill got 72 votes.
It will go into effect July 1st if Haslam doesn’t veto it.
It’s extremely important to note that this bill does not preempt your employee handbook. You can’t be prosecuted for violating a 1359 sign, but you can still be fired.
MTSU trying to decide if it should punish a Constable for….having his gun on him as required by state law. The investigation began because MTSU campus cops saw “police equipment” in his car. That probably means lights, but who knows.
Bowling Green, KY, off duty deputy shoots former constable. That deputy has hired a lawyer after claiming he shot a man who used to be a Constable and is currently a well-regarded youth theater director in self defense. The shootee also used to be in the bassist in a Christian band that’s popular enough to have it’s own Wikipedia page. If you look at the slideshow in this report you can see that one of the people involved was sitting in the driver’s seat of the white F-150, and one of them was outside the passenger side of the vehicle. We know this because the passenger side glass is busted, but nothing else.
This report indicates that the shooter didn’t identify himself as a law enforcement officer until after he’d shot the shootee. It also says that the shooter had exited his vehicle and shot the driver of the white F-150.
I’ve got some definite opinions about what happened, but whatever it was it doesn’t look good for the deputy. The former constable is currently in critical condition and might not make it.
My commute in this morning was unusually light. I even wondered aloud if schools were closed as I pulled in to the parking lot 20 minutes early. As it turns out, Williamson County Schools were closed today.
They caught him late last night, but why did they cancel school? Are the “NO FIREARMS ALLOWED” signs defective? Not large enough? Misspelled?
Our children are completely protected from harm by ensuring that no legal firearms are allowed on campus, so why did they need to shut down school? Surely we could trust that a man who violated an order of protection and opened fire on a car containing his own children wouldn’t risk [gasp!] a whole year(!) in prison by carrying a firearm into a school, right?
Right?
Why are you laughing?
Committee started hearing the bill at about 12:05.
Mike Stewart (D-Nashville) apparently doesn’t understand there’s no such thing as a “public business.” He kept going on and on about “but I privately purchased this property. Why would I be affected by this?”
Apparently the bill only applies to the criminal penalties under TCA 39-17-1359. It does NOT protect a carry permit holder from being fired. This is different from the “Employee Safe Commute” bill that we fought for last year, which would have protected the employees from being fired.
Sherry Jones (D-Nashville) was apparently asleep, and asked the same question that was just covered for 10 minutes.
Bill passes out of committee. Goes to Calendar and Rules Committee next week.
It took a couple weeks to get back to me, but here is the response I got:
February 19, 2013
Dear [redacted],
Thank you for contacting me to express your concerns about the potential introduction of gun control legislation. I truly appreciate having the benefit of your views on this important issue.
It is hard to imagine anything more horrifying than the tragic shooting that occurred this past December at Sandy Hook Elementary School. As a parent with three school age children of my own, I join many other concerned parents in recognizing the need to create a safer learning environment in our schools. I believe that it is of the utmost importance for us to enact sensible measures to protect our children. However, I agree with a majority of Tennesseans in expressing my concern that the Obama administration is using this catastrophic event as a way to limit our Second Amendment rights.
President Obama has stated on numerous occasions that he is willing to bypass Congress through the use of executive orders to achieve his gun control objectives. Should the President resort to legislating through executive order, not only would he be circumventing Congress; but ultimately, he would be trivializing the will of the American people and the constitutionally protected democratic process in which they chose to participate.
After the Sandy Hook tragedy, Americans deserve a comprehensive and effective strategy to protect their families from such senseless acts. Unfortunately, the President has chosen to advance a political agenda that in the end will have little impact on stemming gun violence while further eroding the rights of law-abiding citizens. As a proud supporter of our Second Amendment, I am prepared to use any legal means to protect these constitutional rights from infringement. As gun control legislation is introduced into the 113th Congress, rest assured that I intend to oppose any legislative effort that will infringe upon our constitutionally guaranteed rights defined in the Second Amendment.
It is an honor and a privilege representing you and all of Tennessee’s Fourth Congressional District. Please let me know if you have additional comments or question on this or any other legislative matter.
Sincerely,
Scott DesJarlais
Member of Congress
Compare that response to what people are getting from Senator Bob Corker.
One is a strong response. The other is not.
In the print edition of today’s New York Times, the front page above the fold article is this one.
Here is the second paragraph of the article:
“We do know that historically in these instances, amateurs have trouble switching magazines,” Mr. Murphy said, referring to the high-capacity ammunition feeding device used by Mr. Lanza to shoot scores of bullets in seconds. “I believe, and many of the parents there believe, that if Lanza had to switch cartridges nine times versus two times there would likely still be little boys and girls alive in Newtown today.”
Emphasis added. I also stopped reading further. Why?
Because Lanza likely did change magazines nine or more times:
Sandy Hook Elementary School shooter Adam Lanza armed himself with hundreds of bullets on Dec. 14 before he entered the Newtown school.
…
Lanza changed magazines frequently as he fired his way through the first-grade classrooms of Lauren Rousseau and Victoria Soto, sometimes shooting as few as 15 shots from a 30-round magazine, sources said.
I have a hard time believing that Murphy doesn’t know that, but I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt.
Perhaps people should let him know that his basic premise is incorrect. I doubt it will change anything, but at least we can point out that he doesn’t care about the actual facts.
Actual headline: Vermont man surrenders teaching license over assault rifle
Accurate headline: Teacher cashes doubled paychecks for a year, goes crazy when he gets caught
The FoxNews report makes it sound like he lost his job for the completely lawful act of possessing an AR-15 on his own property. If you click through to the original report, you learn that the Bushmaster the guy owned had very little to do with him getting in trouble. The stalking, felony trespass, and restraining order violations had a much bigger impact.
We’re gearing up for selling the house and moving, and my wife found some of her My Little Pony stuff.
Which reminded me of this that odball posted a while back.
So, I present to you: My Little Ponies and a Glock. Because.
By the way, if this wasn’t “a thing” before….I’m making it a thing now 😀
2013: House not spending enough time debating gun bills*
2009: House spending too much time debating gun bills.
Whatever the House does, it’s wrong.
*The parking lot bill has been introduced every year since at least 2009 and was thoroughly debated last year.
It’s not on the agenda, but I suspect it’s being heard in the Criminal Justice Committee at 10:30AM CST.
Here’s the money quote from Gerald McCormick (who we’ve talked about before):
In McCormick’s words: “We can argue about it and then pass it, or we can just pass it.”
I guess he learned his lesson after Maggart was unseated. We’ll see.
UPDATE: This is the bill. It will be heard in the Civil Justice Subcommittee at 3:00PM.
UPDATE 2: Passed to full committee.