Update on the Right of Self Preservation in the Knoxville Area

The last few months have been very eventful. The state government has passed laws that allow anyone, who obtains a Handgun Carry Permit either from the state of Tennessee or from a state which the State of Tennessee honors, to carry in establishments where alcohol is served for consumption so long as that person is not consuming alcohol, to carry in state parks within Tennessee, and also to carry in local parks. Aside from Governor Bredesen's veto and the subsequent veto override, this is when much of the action began.

The "gun in parks" legislation provided for the rights of the people to carry in local government parks beginning September 1st provided the following requirements were met. First, no local law existing before April 8, 1986 prevented individuals from going armed within a local park; and second, the local government did not vote to opt out of the state law. This set off a scramble of local politicians to limit the rights of the people to carry a firearm to protect themselves, and the Knoxville area was no exception.

After rescheduling the vote on opting out, scheduling a public forum, canceling the public forum due to a grandfathered anti-gun ordinance, scheduling an "opt in" ordinance, rescheduling the vote on the ordinance to repeal gun limitations in parks to entertain a public forum, holding the public forum, and then discussing the ordinance at a City Council meeting, the ordinance was voted down on the first reading by a vote of 6-3 on Tuesday, September 22. Voting "no" on the ordinance were Bob Becker, Rob Frost, Bob Booker, Marilyn Roddy, Chris Woodhull, and Barbra Pelot. Mr. Joe Hultquist voted for the measure; however, he made it clear that he was only voting for it to possibly lengthen debate on the issue and would likely vote against it at the second reading if the ordinance passed. The two votes for the ordinance were Council members Steve Hall, who had requested the ordinance, and Joe Bailey.

This, personally, was not unexpected as it was easy to see what the intentions of the City Council members were as they commented on this issue over the past couple months. What was surprising were the comments of Mayor Haslam. I had been in contact with his office regarding this issue in particular over the weeks leading up to this vote. I was forwarded several e-mails from his office regarding updates on this issue. In each or nearly each message, Mayor Haslam made comments to affirm his support of the right to keep and bear arms. At the end of the Council meeting, he made the statement that although he saw the ability of people bearing arms in defense of themselves and others as a "right," due to the difficulty of implementing a repeal of the prohibition of guns on greenways and other areas including areas where park boundaries and school property meet, he would not be supporting the repeal. These statements lead me to question his definition of rights of people in that it would seem that Mr. Haslam would believe that a governmental body could legislate something which could not be, by definition, found within the bounds of its jurisdiction.

The new state law, by this time, had been in effect for three weeks meaning the bearing of weapons by permit holders within any local government parks within the jurisdiction of municipalities and counties which had not opted out of the state law and which did not have a grandfathered ordinance was now legal. The following Monday afternoon, the Knox County Commission took up the issue. This time the vote went the opposite direction. By a vote of 13-5, the County Commission voted to affirm the state law. Those voting against the right of self preservation were Amy Broyles, Mark Harmon, Sam McKenzie, Finbar Saunders, and Thomas "Tank" Strickland. Commissioners voting for the measure were Brad Anders, Bud Armstrong, Richard Briggs, Mike Brown, Michele Carringer, Mike Hammond, Ivan Harmon, Greg "Lumpy" Lambert, Craig Leuthold, Tony Norman, Paul Pinkston, R. Larry Smith, and Dave Wright.

If you live within the City of Knoxville, live in Knox County, or visit either, please contact the City Council or Knox County Commission members and voice your disapproval of votes limiting your right of self preservation. Even more so, contact those representatives who have voted to uphold your rights. They rightly deserve to be supported for actions which preserve our liberties and emboldened to do more in the future.

Of the places in the Knoxville Area, the following lists are the places where it has been reported in the media that either the bearing of arms has been banned or upheld. These are not by any means exhaustive lists.

Where People Retain the right of self preservation:
Anderson County
Knox County
Dandridge
Kingston

Where the People do not retain the right of self preservation:
City of Knoxville
Maryville
Oak Ridge
Clinton
Gatlinburg

I will end this post with a few statements which I replied to someone commenting on my likely enjoyment of the Knox County Commission's vote: I am glad the Knox County Commission has respected the right of self defense especially on the heals of the affirmation of the ban in the City of Knoxville. All in all, most places in the State do not inhibit self defense. And thus over the last several months, Tennesseans have taken back some of their lost liberties. It is always a good and enjoyable thing when the powers that be are prevented from disrupting the peaceful existence of free peoples and the natural rights which define their status as free people.

Really agree with what you read? Really disagree? Somewhere in the middle?....Let yourself be heard in the comments!
_