speaking up

For those of you readers who live here in the Patron State of Shooting Shit with me, and who also enjoy exercising their Second-Amendment-protected rights, I have an interesting little tool for you.
While Tennessee has an alllowance built into their Handgun Carry Permit system for business owners to put up signs indicating that weapons are not permitted on their property, that system requires the use of signs with very specific verbiage, and very few companies actually bother putting up those kinds of signs. Instead, the opt for the “No Weapons Allowed”, or “Gun Free Zone”, or other, similar concepts – and those have no legal standing in Tennessee, whatsoever. If it should come to light that you are carrying a firearm, the business proprietor or employees can ask you to leave, and if you do not, you then are tresspassing, but apart from that there is not much those signs legally do.
They do, however, indicate how the business owners view Constitutionally-protected natural rights, as well as those people who chose to exercise them. So let those companies and their owners/managers/proprietors know how you feel.
The Tennessee Firearms Association has a Banning Business Letter Generator online, where you simply punch in the address and information concerning the banning location, your respective contact information, and it spits out a pre-generated letter that you are then free to print out as-is, edit to your heart’s content, or do whatever with. Said letter is below (odd blanks or omissions are due to me not filling out the generation form before hitting “submit”):

Dear Sir:

I am writing to express my concern over your posted policy of No Weapons at in , TN. While I support the rights of private property owners to control the use of their property, I must express my concern over your decision to limit the rights of the public to lawfully carry handguns on your property. While privately owned, your property is advertised as open to the public. As such, you bear a greater responsibility for what happens on your property than does an ordinary private property owner. According to the Tennessee Supreme Court, McClung vs. Delta Square Limited Partnership, October 28, 1996, your company is responsible for the safety of your customers anywhere on your property, including the parking lots surrounding your establishment.

Your No Weapons policy means your customers must leave their means of personal protection at home, leaving law-abiding citizens at the mercy of criminal elements in our society, both on your property and during the trip to and from your property. Your policy endangers your fellow citizens inalienable right to life by limiting their right to self-defense.

Individuals who lawfully carry handguns under Tennessee State law undergo stringent background checks by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI), local Sheriff’s Office, and receive state mandated training prior to receiving a Handgun Carry Permit. The success of Tennessee’s carry permit law is well documented with regards to the safe and lawful manner permit holders comport themselves while carrying their handguns.

Criminals always look for easy targets of opportunity. It is completely plausible to anticipate that criminals will take note of businesses such as yours that prohibit legal carry of handguns and target them as locations where it is safe for them to commit their crimes without fear of meaningful resistance. In other words, your business can be expected to become an attractive target for criminals looking for easy prey, including you and your employees.

I appreciate your intention to provide a safe shopping environment for all of your customers, but your policy will have the potential for unintended consequences to the detriment of both your customers, your employees and your company. I request your company rescind its No Weapons policy and respect the inalienable rights of your fellow law-abiding citizens to be able to carry handguns in accordance with Tennessee state law. I urge you to reconsider the implications of your decision to your customers and yourselves and remove the No Weapons signs from your property.

Please note the following quotes:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness…” — Declaration of Independence

The right of self-defense is the first law of nature; in most governments it has been the study of rulers to confine this right within the narrowest possible limits…and [when] the right of the people to keep and bear arms is, under any color or pretext whatsoever, prohibited, liberty, if not already annihilated, is on the brink of destruction.” — St. George Tucker, Judge of the Virginia Supreme Court and U.S. District Court of Virginia in Blackstone Commentaries, 1803

“Laws that forbid the carrying of arms… disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes… Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants; they serve rather to encourage than to prevent homicides, for an unarmed man may be attacked with greater confidence than an armed man.” — Thomas Jefferson’s “Commonplace Book,” 1774-1776, quoting from On Crimes and Punishment, by criminologist Cesare Beccaria, 1764

“[The Constitution preserves] the advantage of being armed which Americans possess over the people of almost every other nation…(where) the governments are afraid to trust the people with arms.” — James Madison, Federalist, No. 46.

and then there is this…

“Gun control? It’s the best thing you can do for crooks and gangsters. I want you to have nothing. If I’m a bad guy, I’m always gonna have a gun. Safety locks? You will pull the trigger with a lock on, and I’ll pull the trigger. We’ll see who wins.” — Sammy “The Bull” Gravano, Mafia turncoat as quoted in Vanity Fair, Sep 1999

Sincerely,

It seems to me that the basic letter definitely covers all of the high points, with the addition of some pertinent legal cases and quotes, and adequately drives the point of individual rights and responsibilities home. As such, the legwork is already done for you – the hard part of putting together the rational, logical arguments, the supporting data, and the reasoned presentation is already done and accomplished. Now all you have to do is fill in your information, print it out, stuff it in an envelope, and stick a stamp on it. How hard is that when it comes to standing up for your rights?
For those concerned, the TFA does not keep your email address from this form (as they so promise), so you cannot even use that as an excuse. And, considering that I, myself, have already sent off a few of these already (to no observable effect, but at least the businesses understand that at least one citizen is not happy with the situation), anyone can find the time and effort to do it themselves. Who knows? You might just convince a business to change its mind.