Tennessee House advances "guns in parking lots" bill in short order

NASHVILLE Tennessee

Tennessee Republican Representative Jeremy Faison of Cosby presents his bill to allow handgun carry permit holders to store loaded firearms in their vehicles no matter where they are parked to the House Civil Justice Subcommittee in Nashville Wednesday.

A bill to allow concealed weapon carry permit holders to store their weapons in vehicles while parked at business or school property.

Representative Faison argued that permit holders who undergo background checks and meet training requirements are “worthy of carrying ... and keeping a gun.”

Democratic Representative Sherry Jones of Nashville was the lone member of the House to raise questions about the measure and to convey her opposition when the bill was advanced to the full House Civil Justice Committee on a voice vote .

“So you could go to church, school, drive down to the guy’s house down the block? Any restaurant, any business anywhere?” 

Faison noted that only areas governed by federal law would override the measure. Otherwise, he said, permit holders could keep firearms in their vehicles “anywhere, any day — seven days a week and twice on Sunday.”

The change has been opposed by large Tennessee employers like FedEx in Memphis and Volkswagen in Chattanooga, which have raised security and property rights concerns.

The law’s quick advancement reflects the resolve among House Republicans to avoid a repeat of the drawn-out fight over last year’s version.

House Majority Leader Gerald McCormick of Chattanooga said he and colleagues just want to put the measure behind them so they can move on to other issues.

“We can argue about it and then pass it, or we can just pass it,” McCormick said.

Last year’s fight ended up costing House Republican Caucus Chairwoman Debra Maggart her legislative seat when the “National Rifle Association” (NRA) and other gun advocates later bankrolled her primary opponent.

Faison last week retracted statements made to WPLN-FM in Nashville that suggested he routinely breaks the law by carrying handguns in public without a permit.

“One day I’ll probably get caught if I don’t get a permit, and I’ll get in trouble,” he had told the public radio station.

Faison later said that what he meant to say was that he transports a gun inside his car, which does not require a permit as long as ammunition is stored separately from the firearm.

The full Tennessee Senate passed its form of the bill on a 28-5 vote on Monday. Tennessee Republican Governor Bill Haslam has previously raised concerns about the guns-on-campus element of the measure, but has remained noncommittal on this year’s bill.