House to Vote soon on Tennessee “Guns in Parking Lot” Bill

House to Vote soon on Tennessee “Guns in Parking Lot” Bill

A bill to allow Tennesseans with handgun carry permits to store firearms in their vehicles no matter where they are parked cleared its final legislative committee Wednesday before a full House vote.

The House Civil Justice Committee accepted the new law on a voice vote. Supporters argued that companies still could prohibit employees from bringing weapons on their property, but the bill would eliminate criminal charges against violators.

"We're not setting a policy of how a business deals with its employees," said Republican Rep. Jeremy Faison of Cosby, the bill's main sponsor in the House.

Attorney for the house, Thomas Tigue said the bill would not alter company policies.

"If your employee manual says you can't drink at work, and you're over 21 and it's legal for you to drink, you can still suffer employment consequences," he said. "This bill does not affect what does happen or does not happen."

The Tennessee Senate approved its version 28-5 earlier this month as GOP leaders have sought to avoid a repeat of last year's drawn-out fight between gun advocates and the business community.

The failure of last year's bill ended up costing House Republican Caucus Chairwoman Debra Maggart her legislative seat when the National Rifle Association (NRA) and other gun advocates later put forth efforts to defeat her in the primary.

The full House could vote on the bill next week. Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Haslam has tried to keep his distance and hasn't said whether he would sign it into law.

Democrats on the House panel said they were not convinced that the measure wouldn't override the will of employers seeking to ban firearms, especially among non-employees.

"I can fire my employees if they bring guns onto the property, but I have no control over what other people bring onto my property," said Rep. Mike Stewart, D-Nashville.

"Historically we've taken the position that if you own a business, you ought to be able to run the show for that business," he said. "Aren't we essentially taking away the property rights of these business owners?"

Republicans on the committee disagreed.

"This doesn't appear to me to affect a property owner or an individual's right to control their property as they see fit," said Rep. Vance Dennis, R-Savannah. "It just takes the government out of that enforcement mechanism."

Faison said his bill would not apply to areas like airports, railroads or secure facilities governed by federal law.

"We're not as a state going to try to trump any federal laws," he said.

Current law allows non-student adults to store guns in vehicles parked in school or college parking lots. The bill would extend that ability to the state's nearly 400,000 handgun carry permit holders.

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Opinion by Hoax and Change

This law only makes something that is already occurring legitimate. So let’s say I am law abiding Tennessean that has a current carry permit, I am carrying my Heckler & Koch 45 and running my errands. I need to pay my utility bill at City Hall. Now I figure the City Hall building might have a sign posted that prohibits firearms, not sure but assuming they would do that. So I leave my 45 locked in my car while I conduct business inside the building. What I did not know, is the city decided to ban a legal gun carrier from bringing a weapon on the property. So, I just broke the law?

Just what is one to do if they need to conduct business and discover that the business prohibits a legal gun carrier to bring their weapon onto the property including the parking lot? Really, to have the authority to ban a legal weapon carrier from a parking lot that is regularly frequented by the public is akin to thwarting the gun carry law. I guess on the day I need to run errands,, i.e. spending money at these business that choose to ban my weapon,,, I need to plan out my route and figure out which business I am allowed to visit. How stupid!

Those in opposition to allowing a legal carry permit holder to bring their weapon on to a parking lot need to consider the larger picture. Who is my wife going to sue if I have to leave my weapon at home and end up robbed or killed when I could have defended myself if I were armed with my legal weapon of which I have a permit to carry?