Wednesday, February 15, 2017

Tennessee Constitutional Carry Bill, 2017

Or, will the sky fall if this bill passes?

This Constitutional Carry bill should pass with little debate in the Tennessee Legislature, and be quickly signed by the governor as he said he would. But, pundits such as Frank Cagle of the Knoxville News-Sentinel will hide behind the First Amendment while taking potshots at this Second Amendment restoration bill. Cagle, in his February 15th diatribe,* is correct in the second sentence of his piece, where he speaks about Second Amendment advocacy groups,
You can't declare victory and go home.
Certainly, we on the right have made the mistake of staying/going home all too often, with the result that the left has taken us too far down the road of socialism/statism. Yes, Virginia, er Mr. Cagle, you got your 1968 Gun Control Act. You got your Brady Background Check. You've got the Veterans' Administration and Social Security Administration reporting individuals to the instant check system (as prohibited persons), without due process.

None of the above accomplished the alleged objective of reducing crime.

Cagle declares this Constitutional Carry bill to be unreasonable. He reminds us of all the tired arguments we heard when gun rights restoration bills were proposed and passed in times past:
  • There will be blood running in the streets
  • It will be the gunfight at the OK Corral every day
  • Every fender-bender will result in a shootout
  • Convenience stores will be more dangerous
  • It will no longer be safe to go to restaurants that serve alcohol
  • Et cetera, et cetera
The problem with these arguments is they don't comport with history. But, Cagle et al, apparently believe that Tennesseans have an uber penchant for violence. If that is so, then it would seem best to power up their GPS and move on down the line. To Chicago. After all, Tennessee already recognizes the right to carry in the car.

Otherwise, why not commit a random act of journalism and research all the killings resulting from Constitutional Carry in Arizona? How about all the accidental gun deaths in Vermont, which has had Constitutional Carry since, like, FOREVER! Or how about all the Mainers who have emascualted themselves since it passed there.

Closer to home, how about all those folks in Kentucky, Virginia, and North Carolina who have been open carrying without the disability of a permit for decades?

Cagle states that freedom of speech doesn't allow you to yell fire in a crowded theater. In actuality, such speech can't be prevented, but the law provides a penalty if such yelling is unwarranted. Likewise the law (even now) doesn't prevent the gangbangers he mentions in his column from carrying a weapon.

Good thing proficiency isn't required of editorial writers, eh? Imagine the hue and cry if a bill were introduced to start licensing them!


*a bitter and abusive speech or piece of writing (Webster)


  1. With the dramatic increase in firearms purchases over the past eight years and the corresponding decrease in crime (according to FBI statistics) you would think that this fact alone would have an enlightening effect on these gun opponents, causing them to rethink their indefensible positions against our second amendment rights. In reality, logic, reasoning and facts do not matter to these people and never will and this includes some of those in our legislative bodies in Nashville, Tn.

  2. If we 'gun nuts' were as unstable, violent, and vindictive as the anti-gun loons accuse us of being, there simply wouldn't be any of those anti-gun loons left alive. The fact that they're still around, still pointing their fingers at us, tells us all anyone needs to know about their credibility.

  3. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

  4. For clarification, Cagle is not an editorial writer for the News Sentinel. He is a columnist presenting his own position. He does not represent the editorial position of the News Sentinel on this topic (and I don't know if the editorial board has discussed this issue to reach a decision about supporting Constitutional carry proposals). While a minor correction, there is a difference between understanding how Cagle feels about the 2A and the newspaper's position on Constitutional carry.
    Don Jacobs
    News Sentinel staff writer

    1. Don, in view of Cagle's position as the former nmanaging editor, I view your clarification as a distinction without a difference. KNS rarely gives the opposing viewpoint any more than a 300 word LTE.

      C. Richard Archie's recent back page editorial response is one of those rare opposing viewpoints.

  5. One of the things that plays against us under Constitutional carry is the fact that we have long professed how our 8 or more hour training gives us a solid background when it comes to our permits.

    Now our RINOS are using that against us by saying Constitutional carry lacks the training and display of proficiency that we have leaned on for such a long time.

    It is going to take a lot of out voting to remove these RINOS and at least allow the vote to come to the floor. Even then, I fear the remaining RINOS would still have the votes to kill it no matter how the stats from other states prove it to be a non entity when it comes to crime and other problems.

  6. Good law abiding citizens should be able to own a gun without bring harassed by are government or any another country or state representative we are American people..crime will always be here I want the right to keep my family safe cuz cops can't always get their in time and most the time their trigger happy and we the people are tried of government trying to tell the American people we can't do this or do that ...


Please maintain civility and G-rating on comments.