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Restaurant Carry Reform Measure Takes a Step Forward

Please Contact the Members of the House Judiciary Committee Today!

 

On Wednesday, March 10 the House Judiciary Criminal Practice Sub-Committee passed House Bill 3125 by a vote of 4-2.  This legislation will now be heard by the House Judiciary Committee.

HB3125, with an NRA-backed amendment, would enable a person who has a valid Right-to-Carry permit to carry a firearm into restaurants where alcohol may be served, as long as the permit holder is not consuming alcohol or is not otherwise prohibited by posting provisions.  HB3125, introduced by State Representative Curry Todd (R-95), was filed in response to Chancellor Claudia Bonnyman’s ruling last November.  The current law was ruled as being unconstitutionally vague because of a perceived ambiguity over the state’s definition of restaurants.  This bill, with the NRA-backed amendment, will fix any ambiguity. 

NRA-ILA would like to thank the of the members of the House Judiciary Criminal Practice Sub-Committee for their hard work on HB3125.

Please contact members of the House Judiciary Committee TODAY and respectfully urge them to support HB3125.  Contact information for the committee can be found below. 

State Representative Kent Coleman (D-49), Chair

Phone:  (615) 741-6829

Email:  rep.kent.coleman@capitol.tn.gov

State Representative Jon Lundberg (R-1), Vice Chair

Phone:  (615) 741-7623

Email:  rep.jon.lundberg@capitol.tn.gov

State Representative Janis Sontany (D-53), Secretary

Phone:  (615) 741-6861

Email:  rep.janis.sontany@capitol.tn.gov

State Representative Eddie Bass (D-65)

Phone:  (615) 741-1864

Email:   rep.eddie.bass@capitol.tn.gov

State Representative Karen Camper (D-87)

Phone:  (615) 741-1898

Email:  rep.karen.camper@capitol.tn.gov

State Representative Jim Coley (R-97)

Phone:  (615) 741-8201

Email:  rep.jim.coley@capitol.tn.gov

State Representative Vance Dennis (R-71)

Phone:  (615) 741-2190

Email:  rep.vance.dennis@capitol.tn.gov

State Representative Henry Fincher (D-42)

Phone:  (615) 741-

Email:  rep.henry.fincher@capitol.tn.gov

State Representative Judd Matheny (R-47)

Phone:  (615) 741-7448

Email:  rep.judd.matheny@capitol.tn.gov

State Representative Barrett Rich (R-94)

Phone:  (615) 741-6890

Email:  rep.barrett.rich@capitol.tn.gov

State Representative Mike Stewart (D-52)

Phone:  (615) 741-2184

Email:  rep.mike.stewart@capitol.tn.gov

State Representative Eric Watson (R-22)

Phone:  (615) 741-7799

Email:  rep.eric.watson@capitol.tn.gov


Firearms Law Day in House Judiciary

March 10, 2010, was scheduled as the day of the House Judiciary Committee to take up the firearms bills that would move forward for 2010.  The one topic that has clearly garnered the most attention is the one which addresses what would the Legislature's response be to the Davidson County Chancellor who declared unconstitutional the change in the law in 2009. 

House Bill 3125 (Todd) / SB 3012 (Jackson) passed out of the House Judiciary by a vote of 4-2 after almost 30 minutes of debate in the scheduled one hour session.  There were 43 other bills on notice and less than half of those were then taken up.

It is important to understand that HB3125 was amended on Monday of this week with an amendment that totally rewrites the bill.  The version of the bill appearing on the legislative website at present is not what passed.  The version that passed has the effect of completely repealing the existing law on possession of firearms where alcohol or beer is served (TCA 39-17-1305).  The result of this amendment would be not that it is legal to carry guns in such places.  The result would be that the carrying of firearms in these places is now treated no differently than carrying in any other place - its illegal unless you have a carry permit.  If you do have a carry permit, it is still illegal under the proposed amended bill if the property is correctly posted (TCA 39-17-1359) and/or if you are "consuming" alcohol or beer (TCA 39-17-1321). 

There were many comments made during the discussion about this issue. One of the most noteworthy was by Rep. Eddie Bass.  Rep. Bass is from Giles and Marshall counties.  He has a long history in law enforcement and was formerly the sheriff of Giles county.  He spoke to the claims of Gov. Bredesen, Chief Ronal Serpas, Rep. Jimmy Naifeh and the Chiefs of Police Association which collectively claim that "all" law enforcement oppose this bill. As did Senator Doug Jackson in his veto over-ride speech in 2009, Rep. Bass spoke to the issue of law enforcement on this bill.  He emphasized that the law enforcement officers that he knew, as well as himself, are substantially all in favor of this legislation because they know and respect the fact that Tennessee handgun permit holders are good, honorable and law abiding citizens.  This is the type of reputation that Tennessee's firearms owners need and deserve but at the same time it is the type of reputation that we must jealously protect by being law abiding and helping to protect and preserve our rights, our cities, our counties and our state.

At this point, the bill must still be voted on by the full House Judiciary as well as by the Senate Judiciary.  We should have adequate votes in both but we need you to start contacting these committee members as well as your individual House and Senate members now.  It is important to push this bill fast because we must anticipate another effort by those who would deny our rights to defeat this legislation by veto or otherwise. 

Several other firearms related bills moved forward and will be updated on the next general status report.

Contact Information is on their individual pages:

Senate Judiciary Committee Officers

Members

House Judiciary Committee Officers

Members