Murfreesboro Parks Department...wanting their parks to still be, "gun free."

[Guest Sherman A. House]

If you have kids or not, this could effect you if you live in the area. This is a letter from Matt Petty, the director of youth baseball operations in Murfreesboro.

To all Optimist Baseball Parents,

I need your help.

The Tennessee State Government recently signed a bill into law allowing any authorized person to carry a handgun into any public park, natural area, historic park, nature trail, campground, forest, greenway, waterway or other similar public place. This law goes into effect on Sept 1, 2009 and would allow any person to lawfully carry handguns during our games and practices at StarPlex and Old Fort Park. The law has a provision to allow any local municipality or county to opt-out of the law.

At the June 25, 2009 Murfreesboro City Council Meeting, which I attended, the council was asked by City Manager Roger Haley to vote on a recommendation to opt-out of this state law. Both the Parks & Recreation and Golf Course Department Directors support the opt-out option.

The council chose to differ voting on the recommendation to understand the implications, if any, of continuing to get the TSSAA Spring Fling event in the future. Mayor Tommy Bragg wanted the council to make an informed decision based upon any potential effect. Councilman Toby Gilley made a statement that he would not be voting for the opt-out clause as he felt it was appropriate for a handgun permit carrying person to carry their weapon in all of these locations.

Regardless of your opinion for or against this law, I need you to contact the members of the Murfreesboro City Council with your opinion. We need for them to make an informed decision of what their constituency wants. At the end of this email, I’ve included each member and their contact information.

I fully support our right to bear arms. I also feel that as citizens we can (and should) make informed decisions on how to use this right to lawfully protect ourselves and our families.

What I don’t feel is that a youth baseball park is a place to have weapons, lawfully or not. We’ve all seen incidents that escalate in life to the point of confrontation especially during sporting events. Can individuals make rational decisions when things escalate? Usually. Can groups of people incite each other to the point of making irrational decisions? Definitely. The last thing we need is a tragic incident in our community to occur at the hands of passionate but irrational thinking people.

We have a great law enforcement support system currently in place in Murfreesboro. Allowing handguns to be allowed in our baseball park could not only put our children and volunteers in harms way but also put our law enforcement at a disadvantage.

If this law stays in effect, and with us not knowing the extent of how many patrons would be armed, our baseball board would most likely empower our umpires to ask people to leave the park sooner during challenges coming from the stands in an attempt to diffuse passionate confrontation. This would be for the safety of our children, volunteers, and patrons.

As a chartered member of Little League International (LLI), we will also have to get a ruling from the LLI Insurance and Risk Assessment Dept because allowing weapons on the premises may be a violation of our Safety Plan and Charter jeopardizing our ability to remain in the Little League program.

Please contact a member(s) of our city council to let them know your opinion.

Thank you for supporting our Murfreesboro Optimist Baseball program.

Matt Petty

Murfreesboro Optimist Club

Director, Baseball Operations

Murfreesboro City Council

Mayor – Tommy Bragg – tbragg@murfreesborotn.gov – 615-849-2629

Vice Mayor – Chris Bratcher – vicemayorchrisbratcher@comcast.net – 615-417-4067

Councilmember – David Edwards – david.edwards@pnfp.com – 615-494-9549

Councilmember – Toby Gilley – tgilley@ruckerlaw.com – 615-893-1134

Councilmember – Shane McFarland – shane@shanemcfarlandconstruction.com – 615-904-7254

Councilmember – Ron Washington – rwashington@murfreesborotn.gov – 615-494-1607

Councilmember – Doug Young – dyoung@citytile.net – 615-893-7721

A link to the signed law: http://state.tn.us/sos/acts/106/pub/pc0428.pdf

[Punisher84]

I don't get the logic. We don't want guns around our kids, but we want to protect them from harm. How do you propose to do that exactly without weapons? Harsh language? People like this guy make my mind hurt.

It makes me sad Sherman

[Guest Sherman A. House]

A couple of things I would like to say about this letter (and I HOPE I am preaching to the choir here).

FIRST: Saying that you are, "fully a supporter of our right to bear arms," and then stating in the next paragraph that you don't think weapons of any kind belong in a ball park because people get carried away and start fights is kind of silly. This is the old John Kerry standard answer for, "I support it, but I voted against it." If your reasoning for why you are against something is longer than the statement of what you are for/against, then that should be what detectives commonly refer to as a, "clue."

SECOND: This is an excuse we've heard alot of lately with the restaurant carry bill, as well as the parks bill. That people with handgun carry permits are responsible people, and CAN be trusted with loaded firearms right up until the point where they are within arm's reach of alcohol (since the accepted public assumption is that everyone is powerless to the effects of alcohol...even if they don't drink) and in this unique case (the little league letter) that people get so carried away with the referee's calls at the game that they might get carried away and start shooting people.

What nobody (besides people in the, "choir,") seem to get is that people that go to a bar/restaurant and shoot up the joint and people that would go to a little league game and shoot people have something in common...they are both crazy! If they didn't have a gun, they would use a pitchfork, molotav cocktail, cue stick, etc. The gun isn't the issue, the person committing the act is. We all know this to be true. Unfortunately (as you can see in this letter) some of the people involved in local politics that have the ability to affect OUR carry rights, don't get it either. They need to hear from YOU, so that they can understand what WE are really all about.

Thanks for listening!

Dr. Sherman A. House

[Guest Sherman A. House]

I don't get the logic. We don't want guns around our kids, but we want to protect them from harm. How do you propose to do that exactly without weapons? Harsh language? People like this guy make my mind hurt.

It makes me sad Sherman

Agreed. See my thoughts about it above (you beat me to the post!)

Yes, his logic is completely flawed. He, "doesn't know what he doesn't know."

[Punisher84]

FIRST: Saying that you are, "fully a supporter of our right to bear arms," and then stating in the next paragraph that you don't think weapons of any kind belong in a ball park because people get carried away and start fights is kind of silly. This is the old John Kerry standard answer for, "I support it, but I voted against it." If your reasoning for why you are against something is longer than the statement of what you are for/against, then that should be what detectives commonly refer to as a, "clue."

I had a little thought about that in particular the other day and I have come to the conclusion that the biggest danger to 2nd amendment rights...are hunters. Now let me clarify before I piss off half the forum.

People that hunt and only hunt generally do not carry, and own few if any handguns. Yet, they usually belong to the NRA and say that they support the 2nd Amendment, but these are the first people to balk at legislation like park carry, restaurant carry, etc.

These are also the politicians that are our greatest threat. They own a shotgun, maybe a rifle, and say they "own guns" and "support the 2nd amendment". The 2nd amendment isn't about hunting. Maybe we need to start asking our elected officials if they "hunt" or if they "carry".

Just my thoughts on the matter. I hunt BTW, but I carry more.

[Guest redbarron06]

When she shows up ask her to site how many times the disagreements have esclitated into brandishing of a firearm or the use of a firearm at a little league game in a park by CCW holder. Make it easy let her choose from the entire country. If she can site 10 in this entire coutnry over the last 10 years I will change my stance and agree with her. However each event must be in a park and include a CCW or person that was carrying legaly and the gun was used out during a disagreement and not self defense.

When she can't come up with those answers ask her why the greenway has a running trail through the middle of a shotgun and muzzle loader WMA in Smyrna. Is it not more dangerious for a person to be jogging around sunrise or sun set with people in the woods with long arms that are capable of killing a deer (or man) at over 100 yards yet the county put a jogging trail right through the middle of it. And they did not even put up signs that advise the runners that you are running through a hunting area and by doing so may be charged with a the crime of interfering with the orderly process of hunting on a WMA.

Watch her eyes bug out of her skull then ask her to provide the proof that parks are so safe that we should surrender our constitutional rights at the gate?

[Guest Sherman A. House]

Yes, unfortunately most everything in our lives is rationalized by anecdotal and NOT scientific thinking.

[macville]

...and would allow any person to lawfully carry handguns during our games and practices at StarPlex and Old Fort Park.

WRONG!!!!! It would not allow *ANY* person to carry. It only allows HCP holders to carry legally. Gad, how hard is it to understand the law? Or is it people *lie* because they want people to think things that are simply untrue??

Does anyone have an email address for this joker?

Matthew

[Guest AmericanWorkMule]

Holy Smoke, where in Smyrna is this?

the greenway has a running trail through the middle of a shotgun and muzzle loader WMA in Smyrna.

[Guest redbarron06]

Holy Smoke, where in Smyrna is this?

Actually after really looking at the maps of the Smyrna Greenway in clsoe deatail the area near McKean Drive the actually greenway turns west (away from the lake) but there are old trails and logging roads that turn into WMA property. I have never actually approached the hunting area from that direction but I have been out there hunting and seen folks jogging less than 40 yards from me. They had no clue they were in a WMA hunting area.

I guess I over stated my point. None the less the greenway borders a WMA where rounds may be fired that could stray into the greenway.

The maps can be seen from here.

[Guest Sherman A. House]

WRONG!!!!! It would not allow *ANY* person to carry. It only allows HCP holders to carry legally. Gad, how hard is it to understand the law? Or is it people *lie* because they want people to think things that are simply untrue??

Does anyone have an email address for this joker?

Matthew

Yes. I have the author of my above quoted email. His email address is:

dmpetty@outerearth.com

Let him know what you think about his, "support," of the 2nd Amendment and the right to LAWFUL concealed carry.

[Guest Sherman A. House]

Actually after really looking at the maps of the Smyrna Greenway in clsoe deatail the area near McKean Drive the actually greenway turns west (away from the lake) but there are old trails and logging roads that turn into WMA property. I have never actually approached the hunting area from that direction but I have been out there hunting and seen folks jogging less than 40 yards from me. They had no clue they were in a WMA hunting area.

I guess I over stated my point. None the less the greenway borders a WMA where rounds may be fired that could stray into the greenway.

The maps can be seen from here.

Wow guys. This is turning into a thread drift.

Can we please keep this on track?

[mhm2a]

Keep on topic and send those e-mails....lets let em hear from those of us who it will effect.

[Guest AmericanWorkMule]

Thanks for the link. We moved out to Smyrna recently and didn't even know these existed. Too busy working I guess.

[Guest AmericanWorkMule]

Sorry to interrupt your tea party boys.

Lets see, I have a HCP so if I travel from a Smyrna Greenway while cycling carrying baseball bat and glove onto a WMA or a Murfeesboro Greenway or Park System I think it would effect me.

Thanks to redbarron06 for providing the links to the maps so one doesn't venture too far out of a WMA with a gun and scare someone on a Greenway carrying baseball bat and glove to a ball field in Murfreesboro.

Wow guys. This is turning into a thread drift.

Can we please keep this on track?

[Guest redbarron06]

Sorry I was not trying to hijack the thread. I just wanted to point out that the sheeple are worried about a trained, permitted person carrying a weapon in a park for self protection yet only a few miles away they have a park well within the impact area of where people hunt and are expected to fire weapons.

[gearyr]

The city of Gallatin is going to ban guns in all local parks! It is on the Gallatin News web site. I live out side of Gallatin, TN. In Castalian Springs. And I thought the mayor of Gallatin was pro gun. Guess not. gearyr

[56FordGuy]

The city of Gallatin is going to ban guns in all local parks! It is on the Gallatin News web site. I live out side of Gallatin, TN. In Castalian Springs. And I thought the mayor of Gallatin was pro gun. Guess not. gearyr

I'm right outside Gallatin, almost right between Gallatin and Westmoreland. While I don't go to the parks, they're still going to get some phone calls from me.

Edited June 28, 2009 by 56FordGuy

[Guest Tim Mulverhill]

What is alarming is how these municipalities are attempting to railroad these regulations without significant public comment, and as quickly as they can.

They need to know they are going to pay at the polls when they want to continue in their positions. These folks are also members of the local business community, as can be seen by many of the emails listed in the original post. Pressure needs to bear on those businesses as well.

This isn't just for those of us in Murfreesboro - this is going to play out accross the entire state before the deadline approaches. Unlike the 'professional' state and federal politicians, we can really bring alot of heat down on the local guys.

As far as these baseball organizations are concerned, they can move to a private venue if they want to restrict what goes in or out.

[mhm2a]

E-mails sent...so far I have a generic response from the Murfreesboro Mayor and one Coucilperson. The generic response from the councilperson references "what is best for the kids".The thing is I go to church with this person and know there are plenty of "us" that watch his kids while he and his wife enjoy the service. I will be sure to let him know my stance.

[Guest HexHead]

E-mails sent...so far I have a generic response from the Murfreesboro Mayor and one Coucilperson. The generic response from the councilperson references "what is best for the kids".The thing is I go to church with this person and know there are plenty of "us" that watch his kids while he and his wife enjoy the service. I will be sure to let him know my stance.

I'd tell him since you can't be trusted in a park, you shouldn't be trusted with his kids either and refuse to watch them.

[TNhunter]

Email sent to all Murfreesboro city council members:

It has recently come to my attention that the Murfreesboro City Council is debating on opting out of the new Tennessee state law recently passed allowing individuals with handgun carry permits to carry weapons into state and local parks. It is apparent and very alarming that many city government entities across the state are attempting to railroad through opt-out regulations closing local parks without significant public comment and are doing so as quickly as they can.

Saying that you are, "fully a supporter of the Second Amendment's right to bear arms," and then allowing for the closing of our city parks to permitted individuals demonstrates you really do not support the Second Amendment. You CANNOT say "I support it, but I voted against it."

You need to know as our "elected" officials of Murfreesboro - you are going to pay at the polls if you want to continue this opt-out position. Please remember that the local city council members are also members of the local business community, and I can foresee ramifications on these local businesses as well. Unlike the 'professional' state and federal politicians, local residents can place lots of pressure on the local 'elected' officials.

As far as any organizations that use city parks (i.e. sports clubs) are concerned, if they think trained and permitted HCP individuals carrying weapons pose a credible and serious threat to the safety of their patrons they can move to a private venue and restrict what goes on there.