Employee Safe Commute (Parking Lot) Campaign

[E4 No More]

Well Fed Ex does not have a "vote" either, and yet it seems that he listens to them. I would suspect that the number of Tennessee NRA members who DO have a vote is a significant number, and merit consideration.

Funny how that works, huh?

[Sky King]

Well, I sent these emails to Senator Mike Faulk and Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey. I also plan to be in Nashville tomorrow.

Senator Faulk,

I have sent this email to Lt.Governor Ramsey. I support the Safe Commute bills as evidenced by my several trips to Nashville and testimony in the committees. It is now time for my voice to be heard again. This time through my elected senator on the Senate floor. However my voice will be squashed if the bill is not allowed to come tot he floor.

I am URGING you, as the Charmian of the Calendar committee to place this bill on the calendar for a full hearing and vote by the full body. Please let the people of Tennessee decide rather than just one person, lt. Gov. Ramsey.

All your hard work on this important legislation will be in vein if you allow this to happen.

Thank you

Sam Cooper

Memphis Tennessee.

--- On Mon, 4/16/12, Sam Cooper <n1bmxw3@bellsouth.net> wrote:

From: Sam Cooper <>

Subject: Usurping the will of the people

To: lt.gov.ron.ramsey@capitol.tn.gov

Date: Monday, April 16, 2012, 8:11 AM

Lt. Governor Ramsey,

You have taken it upon yourself to become a one person General Assembly. A body of representatives elected by the people to conduct the peoples business at their direction. By your direction, and yours alone, you are blocking legislation that has passed the entire committee process and is ready for the PEOPLE to speak via their elected representatives.

The Safe Commute bills are those bills and it is time for the PEOPLE of Tennessee to be heard through their representatives. It is no longer up to YOU. By your actions, you have denied me the right and ability to be heard on this matter. LET THE PROCESS WORK. Allow SAFE COMMUTE to have it's day on the floor and let's see what THE PEOPLE of TENNESSEE want.

Sam Cooper

Memphis Tennessee

[Worriedman]

he did indicate that he had not made up his mind yet on the current version of SB3002, and he was very hopeful that some version of the bill, perhaps even the current version, would find action by both houses before adjournment.

Seems a little out of sync with his statements to TN Reports on Friday last:

[Worriedman]

Here is Ramsey touting the TFA endorsement:

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2010/jul/20/wamp-says-momentum-shifting-his-way-gop-primary-te/

From the article:

Ramsey, who made several campaign stops Tuesday in Hawkins County, adjacent to his home Tri-Cities region, announced he won the endorsement of the Tennessee Firearms Association, which pushes to remove restrictions on where guns may be legally carried, particularly by people with handgun-carry permits.

Ramsey has targeted gun owners, handgun-carry licensees and tea party activists for support.

[rockman6]

I think the bills are on deck for 8:00 this am so maybe we'll learnsomething by noon... then maybe a shopping trip for a auto gun box....

[Defender]

Seems a little out of sync with his statements to TN Reports on Friday last:

I supported him in his bid to become Governor. I wrote him an e-mail yesterday urging him to get on board with this bill. This video has changed my mind about him completely. He's a pompous ass and does not deserve the respect we've given him. I will not support him again. HE is what's wrong with the GOP. People like him have been in office way too long and need to be put out to pasture as soon as possible.

Edited April 17, 2012 by barewoolf

[waynesan]

The House Committee is debating this right now.Watch it here:

http://tnga.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=126&event_id=145

[Just2Honor]

Call me a cynic. I think we are geting lip service so we feel good about them. Don't think any of them are pushing for it, even if they did co-sponsor. It's a "hot potato" so theykeep moving it around so they don't get burned. Sorry to say but I feel in the end they will do nothing meaningful and it will die.

[waynesan]

HB3559 and HB3560 were voted on to be sent to the House Calandar and Rules Committee.

[QuietDan]

These two bills need to be scheduled for a vote this session without any fun and games.

Legislators that play fun and games on these two bills to deny the bills a floor vote, in an attempt to curry favor with their big business masters, will ultimately face the wrath of the electorate.

The big business masters that manipulate these legislators may be able to avoid the wrath of the electorate, but will ultimately face the wrath of consumers and their customers. Accountability for all.

[Guest 270win]

These guys make this more complicated than necessary with this 'posting' idea. Even without the 500 dollar fine people can be asked to leave property. What is the need with the 500 dollar fine?

I did see in the paper that Fred Smith is threatening to leave TN if TN does not do away with the estate tax. Must be nice to have whatever you want done for one person.

[waynesan]

If this has been posted, excuse me. I checked and didn't find it.

This is a video of John Harris discussing this subject back in March. Very interesting.

[Sky King]

Richard and I went to Nashville today and spoke in The Employee and Consumer Affairs Committee along with Darren LaSorte of the NRA in support of these bills. By now it is already old news that the bills did pass and are now set for the Calendar and Rules Committee for scheduling on the House Floor.

What I DO find interesting, and is apparently a development that took place as Richard and I drove back home is the apparent decision by Senator Mike Faulk, (the companion bills sponsor in the Senate AND the chairman of the Senate Calendar and Rules Committee) to put the bills back in motion in the Senate. This is as reported by a Nashville TV station:

http://www.wkrn.com/story/17510558/hous ... t-gun-bill

If this report is accurate, and the bills DO get put on the calendar for the House and Senate, we will need a full scale email, phone call and visit assault on the members of The General Assembly to support these bills.

Edited April 17, 2012 by Sky King

[GKar]

Sam/Richard - as I read the amendments placed today, HB 3560 now differs from SB 3002 only in the proviso including those 21 and over who hold valid TN hunting licenses. And it seemed as thought the rep from NRA indicated in his podium coments that an agreement had been reached to limit the original bill to HCP holders initially, with the future goal of adding those holding hunting licenses in the future - which sounds in concert with HB 3560 as amended. So, would the process then be to call the Senate bill to the floor and sub the House version for it at that time, or would it just be amended from the Senate floor (assuming the House bill as it currently stands is indeed the target)?

Also - any feeling at all for how many of those Reps signing on as co-sponsors of the original House bill continue to support the amended version? And overall level of support from the floor of each chamber? (All assuming, of course, that leadership doesn't manage to torpedo their coming to the floor with enough time to actually consider them.)

Also an interesting thought: Faulk has nothing to lose by pushing the bill ahead. He's already announced that he will not be seeking another term in the upcominog election this year.

Edited April 17, 2012 by GKar

[Sky King]

Sam/Richard - as I read the amendments placed today, HB 3560 now differs from SB 3002 only in the proviso including those 21 and over who hold valid TN hunting licenses. And it seemed as thought the rep from NRA indicated in his podium coments that an agreement had been reached to limit the original bill to HCP holders initially, with the future goal of adding those holding hunting licenses in the future - which sounds in concert with HB 3560 as amended. So, would the process then be to call the Senate bill to the floor and sub the House version for it at that time, or would it just be amended from the Senate floor (assuming the House bill as it currently stands is indeed the target)?

Also - any feeling at all for how many of those Reps signing on as co-sponsors of the original House bill continue to support the amended version? And overall level of support from the floor of each chamber? (All assuming, of course, that leadership doesn't manage to torpedo their coming to the floor with enough time to actually consider them.)

Also an interesting thought: Faulk has nothing to lose by pushing the bill ahead. He's already announced that he will not be seeking another term in the upcominog election this year.

If you have been following this closely, you will know that this has been a roller-coaster ride to say the least. With every phone call, email and forum post, I see something different. Right now I am taking this one step at at time. To speculate what will happen tomorrow on this is in my opionion foolish. All I know for sure is that as long as these bills are alive, I will keep working to get them passed.

[Worriedman]

The Senate could vote to concur with the House version. The Hunting license feature of the Campfield amendment was what Ramsey pushed back so strongly about, allowing as to how some Hunters over 21 will not have had to undergo Hunter Safety Training, ergo the House version sans the amendment.

Removing that feature should alleviate the public reasons stated by Ramsey to oppose the Bill, oh, and his trepidation over "balancing" Property Rights, which he did not bring up as a factor untill the bill actually began to move in the Senate.

[R_Bert]

ThePeoplesCar - I am running out of car brands to choose from (no bailout, no buying gun-votes).

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/apr/17/volkswagen-speaks-out-against-guns-in-parking/?partner=popular

[Worriedman]

It is important to understand the constraint of the Tennessee Constitution upon the Legislators of our State with respect to their responsibility in dealing with firearms laws.

Article 1 Section 26 is descriptive, and emphatic in the chains placed on the "servants of the People" relating what the Legislature MAY do:

“That the citizens of this state have a right to keep and to bear arms for their common defense; but the Legislature shall have power, by law, to regulate the wearing of arms with a view to prevent crime.â€

One does not need a college degree to grasp the intent of the Framers of the Article, an eight grade mastery of the English language will suffice to allow for a clear understanding of the issues.

"Right" describes a moral, ethical, or legal principle considered as an underlying cause of truth, justice, morality, or ethics. "Rights" in our United States are conferred by God on the populace, not by any branch of government, they are "unalienable" as intoned in our most basic document describing our Freedoms, the Declaration of Independence, as incapable of being repudiated or transferred by anyone to another.Established in the first part of the Article that the Citizens have the Right to keep arms for their common defense, the modifying clause gives "power" to the legislature to regulate the "wearing" of arms with a view to prevent crime.

The Oath or Obligation taken by each legislator upon their inclusion to the body of the General Assembly:

“I ………. do solemnly swear (or affirm) that as a member of this General Assembly, I will, in all appointments, vote without favor, affection, partiality, or prejudice; and that I will not propose or assent to any bill, vote or resolution, which shall appear to me injurious to the people, or consent to any act or thing, whatever, that shall have a tendency to lessen or abridge their rights and privileges, as declared by the Constitution of this Stateâ€.

Having been present, and intimately involved, in the debate in our Legislature regarding this issue, I have yet to see any empirical data offered by the opponents to the bill showing that its adoption would in fact increase crime, which is required by the Constitution in order for the Legislature to further regulate (in reality restricting the keeping of arms in this instance) the wearing of arms.

As the current bill in question, (HB 3560) deals ONLY with the keeping of arms within the confines of an individual's private property (their personal vehicle) and does not involve the "wearing" of any arm on another's property, the Legislature is in fact overstepping their prerogative to deny that specifically enumerated Right to the Citizens that they are sworn to serve if they do not put this issue on the Governor's desk for inclusion in our TCA.

Edited April 18, 2012 by Worriedman

[Guest ArmyVeteran37214]

[Worriedman]

I will say this, Mr. La Sorte is a very disciplined, very active individual. I have greatly enjoyed our conversations, and he is relentless in the amount of work he is producing to further these bills. I am impressed with the fact that he genuinely is interested in the thoughts and knowledge of local activist, and, is willing to contact and work with those who show interest in the issues.

[GKar]

And so today we have this: http://www.tennessean.com/article/20120418/NEWS0201/304170061/Guns-trunks-bills-advance-Haslam-Ramsey-don-t-expect-passage?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|FRONTPAGE|s

Quoting from the article:

“I am not interested in passing a bill this session just to pacify one group or another,†Ramsey said in a statement. “I am interested in finding a balance and resolving this issue for good. Whether it is in this General Assembly or another, it will be.â€

Gov. Bill Haslam also mentioned the legislation Tuesday at an event with Volkswagen officials. When asked if he would make sure the bills don’t pass, he laughed and said, “That’s a pretty good summary.â€

David Smith, a Haslam spokesman, later confirmed that the governor does not expect either bill to reach his desk.

So once again, leadership deems it knows more about what is right and correct for the state than the entirety of assembled body we the voters sent to the GA. Fascinating display of sheer, unadulterated arrogance, that is. If this came to a floor vote in each body and was defeated by either, thats a different story - but to prevent the elected body from ever freely considering it on its own merits...wait, damn, that sounds like Obama...

[Mike.357]

ThePeoplesCar - I am running out of car brands to choose from (no bailout, no buying gun-votes).

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/apr/17/volkswagen-speaks-out-against-guns-in-parking/?partner=popular

It is worth reading the comment section. Funny stuff. How dumb are some people? Scary that they might vote.

[JAB]

And so today we have this: http://www.tennessea...ext|FRONTPAGE|s

Quoting from the article:

“I am not interested in passing a bill this session just to pacify one group or another,†Ramsey said in a statement. “I am interested in finding a balance and resolving this issue for good. Whether it is in this General Assembly or another, it will be.â€

Gov. Bill Haslam also mentioned the legislation Tuesday at an event with Volkswagen officials. When asked if he would make sure the bills don’t pass, he laughed and said, “That’s a pretty good summary.â€

David Smith, a Haslam spokesman, later confirmed that the governor does not expect either bill to reach his desk.

So once again, leadership deems it knows more about what is right and correct for the state than the entirety of assembled body we the voters sent to the GA. Fascinating display of sheer, unadulterated arrogance, that is. If this came to a floor vote in each body and was defeated by either, thats a different story - but to prevent the elected body from ever freely considering it on its own merits...wait, damn, that sounds like Obama...

Man, I sure am glad that the speakers of the state Senate and House, along with the current Governor, are Republicans seeing as how Republicans are so staunch in their support of gun rights. Good thing we finally got rid of that pro-gun legislation blocking elitist Naifeh as Speaker, huh? We can already see how much difference that is going to make.

Edited April 18, 2012 by JAB

[Worriedman]

HB 3560 and HB 3559 are on the Calender for Calender and Rules for tomorrow morning at 8:00 A.M. My understanding is that House Session takes up at 9:00 A.M., so anything that does not get dealt with in the first portion of Calender and rules will be taken up after the full House session, all matters on the calender will be dealt with tomorrow.

And remember Madam Speaker is in charge of all committee appointments...

Make up of Committee:

Committee Officers

• Bill Dunn, Chair
  
• Dennis Roach, Vice-Chair
  
• Steve McDaniel, Secretary
  

Members

• Harry Brooks
  
• Glen Casada
  
• Jim Cobb
  
• Jimmy Eldridge
  
• Craig Fitzhugh
  
• Beth Harwell
  
• David Hawk
  
• Ryan Haynes
  
• Phillip Johnson
  
• Debra Maggart
  
• Judd Matheny
  
• Gerald McCormick
  
• Steve McManus
  
• Richard Montgomery
  
• Jimmy Naifeh
  
• Frank Niceley
  
• Bob Ramsey
  
• Charles Sargent
  
• Cameron Sexton
  
• Joe Towns
  

[GKar]

Interesting to watch on the other side of the hall...Sen Faulk is Chair of the Senate Calendar committee. One would think he'd like to see his own bill brought to the floor. One problem might be the vice-chair: Norris. He is also leader of the Repub Caucus in the Senate, I believe...and as such may be in the "leadership" sphere of influence.

In my conversation with Ramsey on Sunday, he passed along a comment supposedly made to him by Harwell that the Senate's actions were making the House look like a bunch of moderates - to which he laughed and said to me that there was a good reason for that. But, if the House bill does survive Calendar and goes to the floor, while the Seante bill does not, guess the boot goes on the other foot, doesn't it?

Richard - where do you find the Calendar cmte calendar? I've never managed to stumble upon it.