Memphis Commercial Appeal Editorial, March 8

[Guest Seminole]

For those of you not from the Memphis area, this is the editorial from yesterday's Commercial Appeal. Note the use of arrest figures as if they were somehow relevant. In the first place, an arrest does not equal conviction of a crime. Secondly, every study I've seen on the subject says that there is a lower percentage of carry permit holders convicted of violent crimes than the percentage of police officers convicted of violent crimes.

At any rate, I never did find the story that the editorial mentions. Did anyone else see it?

Editorial: Hopeful signs in gun debate

The rush to expand the range of handgun permit holders in Tennessee might be slowing

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Some encouraging signs appeared last week that the rush to expand the territory in which handguns can be carried in Tennessee might be slowing down.

That doesn't mean that citizens concerned about the drive to expand the range of handgun carriers should relax. Members of the General Assembly still need to hear from people on both sides of the debate.

But there is hope that serious thought is being given to this movement.

In the House, a bill allowing handgun carry permit holders to carry in local parks was amended to give city councils and county commissions some discretion.

And legislators also put off for a week any movement on a bill that would allow guns to be carried into restaurants that serve alcohol, where they are now banned.

An industry representative has spoken out in opposition. Restaurateurs surely deserve some consideration by legislators, none of whom would want to try to lure customers back into a place where gunplay has erupted.

Also delayed for a week was a bill closing public access to all information on Tennessee's 218,000 gun carry permit holders. The bill also would criminalize the publication of information from the list, but its sponsor is considering the possibility of, instead, reassuring permit holders that they have the right to sue if they believe they've been harmed by publication -- a more reasonable approach.

The merit in maintaining a public list is graphically illustrated by The Commercial Appeal reporter Marc Perrusquia in today's editions. Dozens of people with violent histories have received permits to carry handguns in Tennessee in recent years.

More than 70 Shelby County handgun carry permit holders have arrest histories, Perrusquia reported, including some charged with robbery, assault, domestic violence and other serious offenses.

That and two fatal shootings by handgun carry permit holders in Memphis in recent weeks should discredit the myth that everyone in possession of a handgun carry permit has been carefully screened, has never committed a crime and always shows good judgment and anger management skills.

That description probably fits most permit holders. But it would be a mistake to assume that it fits them all.

Bills that would allow handguns in state parks and state wildlife management areas and refuges advanced in the House last week.

But in another sign that this legislation could get closer scrutiny, the Senate Judiciary Committee formed an ad hoc committee to study all of the new gun bills that have been filed.

The study should be undertaken with care, but without dragging this discussion on much longer.

The General Assembly must turn its attention eventually to the financial crisis facing state colleges and universities, health care deficiencies, job losses and other threats to Tennesseans' quality of life.

The current restrictions on handguns are where they should be.

[ftncityfatboy]

allow me to list a few of the things in this world i detest: Newspapers, newspaper reporters, newspaper editors. TV news, tv news reporters, tv station managers, most political figures in the city & county government of knoxville due to their recent thoughts of being above the law, people who drink the kool-aid and can't or won't think for themselves. what we need are people in these positions who actually give a sh*t about their fellow man/woman. Maybe its time for some TGO'ers to run for office????

[Garufa]

allow me to list a few of the things in this world i detest: Newspapers, newspaper reporters, newspaper editors. TV news, tv news reporters, tv station managers, most political figures in the city & county government of knoxville due to their recent thoughts of being above the law, people who drink the kool-aid and can't or won't think for themselves. what we need are people in these positions who actually give a sh*t about their fellow man/woman. Maybe its time for some TGO'ers to run for office????

[Guest dtandy]

I'll volunteer.... everyone send me $10,000 and I'll make sure your voice is heard. Oh yeah, that's how the current system works......

[Guest Linoge]

No idea about that article in particular, but I already had some fun fisking it.

The claim they make concerning the justification for the databas is patently untrue, though, given that arrest records do not equate to convictions, and neither do criminal charges.

But, wait, I guess that would be me expecting an "authorized journalist" to be honest... how silly of me.

[TGO David]

allow me to list a few of the things in this world i detest: Newspapers, newspaper reporters, newspaper editors. TV news, tv news reporters, tv station managers, most political figures in the city & county government of knoxville due to their recent thoughts of being above the law, people who drink the kool-aid and can't or won't think for themselves. what we need are people in these positions who actually give a sh*t about their fellow man/woman. Maybe its time for some TGO'ers to run for office????

The only person whose words need be typed entirely in red are Jesus Christ's, and I think most bibles have that one covered for you. Please stick with plain black and do the rest of us a favor. Thanks.