Should Tennesseans be allowed to openly carry without permits?

Legislation to allow Tennesseans to openly carry firearms without a handgun permit was voted down in a state House subcommittee last week. The measure, sponsored by state Rep. Micah Van Huss, R-Jonesborough, was defeated in a key 10-1 vote by the House Finance Subcommittee.Before that vote, Van Huss said he might try to bypass the subcommittee and move the bill to a floor debate in the House. To do that, the freshman lawmaker would have needed the support of 66 representatives in the 99-member chamber.After the subcommittee’s action, Van Huss told reporters he would abandon that effort.“I’m going to withdraw that, because they killed it fairly,” Van Huss told the Associated Press. “They killed it fair and square.”His bill would have allowed firearms to be carried openly by any Tennessean legally allowed to own a gun. Current law allows those with state permits — who undergo background checks and special training — to carry firearms both openly and concealed.Gov. Bill Haslam’s administration opposed the legislation and said changing the process could prove costly to state taxpayers. State Safety and Homeland Security Commissioner Bill Gibbons told state lawmakers it could cost as much as $100,000 to rewrite existing permits if the legislation became law.“We think it is very important for the permit carrier, for the public and for law enforcement to clearly understand the limitations of the handgun carry permit,” Gibbons told the House Finance Subcommittee on April 14.Gibbons also said he was worried reciprocity agreements with other states could be harmed if Tennessee changed its handgun carry permit rules. Van Huss and other supporters of open carry called the projected costs associated with his bill a “bogus fiscal note.” Before its defeat in the subcommittee, Van Huss pledged to personally raise $100,000 from private funds to see that the bill gets a fair hearing.We want to hear from you. Should the General Assembly allow Tennesseans to openly carry firearms in public without permits?Send your comments to Mailbag, P.O. Box 1717, Johnson City, TN 37605-1717, or mailbag@johnsoncitypress.com. Please include your name, telephone number and address for verification.



from Johnson City Press Latest News Feed

To read more visit: http://bit.ly/1i7JfOu

This share sponsored by East Coast Wings Johnson City

from Tumblr http://bit.ly/1i7MMwu

via This share sponsored by East Coast Wings Johnson City