the inertia just keeps building

Unlike the editorial staff of the Commercial Appeal, who still cannot be bothered to provide links substantiating the claims and assertions in their editorial writings, Richard Locker appears to have figured out the magic of hyperlinks, and was able to sneak one such link pointing to the Commercial Appeal’s privacy-invading database of handgun carry permit holders into his recent article concerning the passage of a bill allowing HCP-holders to carry their firearms into parks in Tennessee. I guess that removes any doubt on whether or not Richard supports the database and tows the Commercial Appeal‘s party line of being against firearms, against firearm owners, against self-defense, against the Second Amendment, and against personal privacy… not that there was a whole lot of doubt to begin with, but this clears up even that small amount.
Regarding the article itself, it appears to be another one of Richard’s “off-again” articles, wherein he manages to actually report the news while remaining largely free of his standard biases and bigotries concerning firearms and firearm owners. The important take-away is found at the end:

The state legislature has now sent three substantive expansions of Tennessee’s handgun-carry permit law to Gov. Phil Bredesen, who can sign them into law, veto them, or allow them to become law without his signature:

– HB716: Allows people with handgun-carry permits to carry in all state, local and national parks in Tennessee, but lets city councils and county commissions vote to exclude guns in parks under their jurisdictions.

– HB390: Allows permit holders to carry rifles and shotguns in private vehicles with ammunition loaded into the guns’ magazines, but not chambered. Permit holders are currently allowed to carry loaded pistols but no one is allowed under current law to carry long guns and their ammunition in the same compartment of a car or truck.

– HB962: Allows permit holders to carry guns into restaurants and other places that serve alcohol if they are not consuming alcohol themselves. Business owners could post signs banning guns in their properties. Bredesen has until Monday to act on that bill.

Regarding HB0716 and HB0390, Governor Bredesen has 10 days to sign them or veto them once they get to his desk later this week, otherwise they are automatically passed, much like the situation might be on Monday if our Governor has not broken out a pen concerning HB0962.
It is amazing to me how difficult and complicated the situations concerning these bills has become… after all, who would have thought that it would be so hard to legally defend myself and my family wherever we might be? Is not self-defense already a natural right inherent to us due to being humans?