push the hot button

Like I said repeatedly before, the staff of the Commercial Appeal have found a hot-button issue with their privacy-invading database of handgun carry permit holders, and, by God, they are going to pound the gos-se out of that button and generate as much publicity, good or bad, as they possibly can. After all, there is no such thing as “bad” publicity.
Thankfully, if this most-recent editorial is any indication, they are already getting bored with the whole thing.

Bringing guns into city parks and ball fields “feels ill-advised. This is not a good mix of where guns should be . . .”

Those are the thoughts of Germantown Mayor Sharon Goldsworthy regarding a proposed bill that would allow Tennesseans who have handgun carry permits to carry guns into all state and local parks.

Congratufrakkinglations. Now, if Mayor Goldsworthy or the writer of this particular editorial had the nerve, wherewithall, or intellectual honesty to present hard data, concrete statistics, or any form of evidence indicating that firearms in these locations would, in fact, be a problem for or threat to the “common good”, then I might be actually interested in what they have to say. As it is, you will have to forgive me for not giving a crap about someone’s “feelings” when it comes to limiting, restricting, or otherwise abridging my inherent, natural rights.

Goldsworthy’s reservations reflect those of other representatives of municipal and county governments. All citizens who use and enjoy parks and government recreational facilities across the state should have the same reservations.

Bullshit. Honest people who actually keep track of such things instead of just trying to fearmonger know that handgun carry permit holders are among the most law-abiding people in Tennessee. Yes, there are always exceptions, but 99.999% of us are not exactly running around, rampantly shooting people outside of locally-owned parks – why would we do it inside one?
And, again, I will repeat my question from a previous post: Criminals are already carrying firearms in these locations, so why is the staff of the Commercial Appeal so hell-bent on preventing law-abiding, peaceful citizens from being able to defend themselves? After a fashion, Mayor Goldsworthy is right, but criminals intending on doing harm to me or mine have forced my hand, and the hands of hundreds of thousands of other people, and unlike us law-abiding citizens, criminals do not obey arbitrary, unmarked lines in the dirt.

The bill is one of four firearms bills that are being fast-tracked through the legislature. The others would let people with carry permits take their handguns into state wildlife management areas and into places serving alcohol until 11 p.m., unless business owners post signs banning guns. The fourth would make gun-carry permits confidential.

Thank Heaven, on all counts. Granted, one of those four laws makes hardly any sense at all, but at least all of them are a step in the right direction.
It is interesting, however, that the writer of this editorial mentions “signs banning guns” – Tennessee has very explicit, exacting standards for signs, and anything that does not meet those requirements does not carry the weight of law behind it. I wonder if the staff of the Commercial Appeal knows that, or much else relating to handgun carry permits…

No matter what your feelings are about being allowed to carry a handgun, everyone should be concerned about a proliferation of firearms around family recreation areas. Tell that to the legislature by calling 1-800-449-8366.

What if my feelings about being allowed to carry a handgun include wanting to be able to carry said handgun into a “family recreation area”? Do you really still want me to call my representative? Something tells me to doubt it.
Of course, unfortunately for the staff of the Commercial Appeal, I already have contacted my local representatives, and one of the two responded in support of allow handgun carry permit holders to carry in local parks. Tough break for you all, neh? As a random aside, in the many emails and few snailmails I have sent out to politicians, this response came by snailmail, in response to snailmail, and is the only non-canned response I have received, ever. Read into that whatever you desire.
Also, cute (albeit hysterical) use of the world “proliferation”, there… of course, you cannot be bothered to mention that it would be law-abiding, peaceful, licensed, everyday citizens who would be responsible for this evil “proliferation”, can you? That would entirely defeat the fear-mongering value of the word, would it not? Unfortunately for you, that is the reality of the situation, though, whether you are willing to admit it or not. Another reality becoming evident in your incessant “methinks they dost protest too much” editorials is one gives lie to the words of your esteemed editor, Chris Peck – the Commercial Appeal is, through these editorials and articles, showing its true colors, and they definitely are the colors of an organization that is patently “against the Second Amendment”.
Unfortunately, the fun does not stop at this editorial, though – it would seem that the coincidentally-named “Hot Button” section of the Commercial Appeal is interested in your feedback concerning allowing handgun carry permit holders to carry their firearms into local parks… or, at least, they are claiming to be interested. Unfortunately, in order to be considered “valid” feedback, you have to provide them with your name, home address, and phone number; however, if you happen to already be a handgun carry permit holder here in Tennessee, the Commercial Appeal has already graciously provided all of that information to the entire world already, so you really should not trouble your little head over such insignificant details as “invasion of privacy” and “identity theft”.
How convenient.
You will have to excuse my lack of enthusiasm at the prospect of providing the Commercial Appeal yet another opportunity to invade my privacy, so I will answer their question, quoted below, here.

Should Tennessee legislators change the law to allow people with handgun carry permits to take their weapons into any city, county or state park? Why or why not?

Yes, Tennessee legislators should change the law to allow people with handgun carry permits to take our weapons into any city, county, or state park, because there is no logical or rational difference between land inside a local park, and land outside it. Furthermore, recent rule-changes at the federal level have set the precedent of allowing handgun carry permit holders to take our firearms into national parks, indicating that even the federal government finds the situation acceptable. Finally, criminals already carry weapons in these locations – why should I be rendered defenseless to appease someone else’s “feelings”?
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