Monday, March 2, 2009
Law and Order / Legislature / Politics / Woods Packing Heat on Playgrounds: Let's Think This Through
Posted by Jeff Woods on Mon, Mar 2, 2009 at 5:45 AM
A smart politician who wants to be reelected is reluctant to offend gun freaks because they are loud and organized. But here at Pith in the Wind we were kind of wondering if, in addition to protecting their own asses, lawmakers also might consider whether we really want to introduce guns into places where children play. Gun advocates insist society has nothing to fear from the law-abiding citizens going armed. But there are more than a few examples of handgun permit holders committing crimes. Helpfully, the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence has made a list:
In Tennessee, a permit-holder was recently charged with murdering someone in an argument over a parking space; another pleaded guilty to assault after allegedly threatening his wife; another was arrested for impersonating a police officer; another permit-holder, Tennessee Titans wide receiver Brandon Jones, pleaded guilty to taking his loaded gun into Nashville International Airport; another 99 Tennessee permit-holders were found to have felony convictions, DUI charges or orders of protection against them; as many as 200 were discovered to have disqualifying domestic violence records.
Around the country, there are many more cases of these crimes. See them here. The fact that permit holders commit crimes all the time is an inconvenient truth for gun advocates. That's why they're also pushing to close the names of the nearly 220,000 handgun permit holders to the public, so we can't know what they're doing. Anyone publishing the information would be committing a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by fines of up to $2,500. That bill comes up Wednesday in the House Judiciary Committee.
Knoxville News-Sentinel editor Jack McElroy explains what this means:
So, let's say, there's another attack like the one last year on the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church (I hope there isn't), and the News Sentinel learns that the shooter was a felon to whom the state had wrongly issued a handgun permit. Under this law, we couldn't tell the public that without facing prosecution. Or, flip it around. Say a would-be mass-killer was shot by an alert citizen who had a handgun and a legitimate permit. The News Sentinel couldn't publish that, either, without risking fines.Asked about concerns that the bill might violate the First Amendment, Rep. Curry Todd, R-Collierville, responded: "It's no concern of mine." I guess the right to bear arms trumps the right to free speech, especially if you're packing.
Update: One out of every four state legislators hold a state-issued permit to carry a loaded handgun. They include Sen. Ophelia Ford. That's reassuring. The list of pistol-packing legislators, courtesy of Tom Humphrey who got it from Rick Locker through Andy Sher.
Mae Beavers, R-Mt. Juliet, Oct. 30, 2007
Tim Burchett, R-Knoxville, March 30, 2006
Rusty Crowe, R-Johnson City, March 17, 2006
Mike Faulk, R-Kingsport, Aug. 16, 2007
Ophelia Ford, D-Memphis, Aug. 4, 2005
Thelma Harper, D-Nashville, Nov. 28, 2005
Doug Jackson, D-Dickson, Oct. 15, 2007
Jackson Johnson, R-Franklin, June 27, 2008
Mark Norris, R-Collierville, Oct. 29, 2007
Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville, May 8, 2008
Paul Stanley, R-Germantown, June 24, 2008
House (23)
Vance Dennis, R -Savannah, Sept. 24, 2006
Jimmy Eldridge. R-Jackson, April 23, 2007
Josh Evans, R-Greenbrier, Oct. 23, 2006
Dennis Ferguson, D-Harriman, July 17, 2008
Henry Fincher, D-Cookeville, June 5, 2008
Robert Dale Ford, R-Jonesborough, Sept. 28, 2007
Ulysses Jones, D-Memphis, Oct. 20, 2008
Jon Lundberg, R-Bristol, May 22, 2008
Judd Matheny, R-Tullahoma, Dec. 22, 2005
Joe McCord, R-Maryville, Sept. 18, 2006
Steve McDaniel, R-Parkers Crossroads, Jan. 5, 2006
Mike McDonald, D-Portland, Nov. 21,2005
Larry Miller, D-Memphis, July 20, 2005
Richard Montgomery, R-Sevierville, Aug. 26, 2008
Jason Mumpower, R-Bristol, May 22, 2008
Jimmy Naifeh, D-Covington, June 18, 2008
Frank Niceley, R-Strawberry Plains, Oct. 22, 2007
Dennis Edward Roach, R-Rutledge, Aug. 5, 2005
Donna Rowland, R-Murfreesboro, July 21, 2006
Anthony Shipley, R-Kingsport, July 24, 2006
Ben West Jr., D-Nashville, Aug. 26, 2005
Eddie Yokley, D-Greeneville, Jan. 25, 2008
Comments (6)
Showing 1-6 of 6
I don't intend to spoon feed you but I will provide an "assist" in the interest of your readership.
Concealed Carry Permit holders, on average, commit far less violent crime than the public at large. In Florida, the CC permit holders are 300 times LESS likely to commit crimes than the public at large.
CC permit holders are also LESS likely to commit crimes than police officers. If you really wanted to reduce violent crimes in parks then a ban on police officers makes more sense(at least according to the statistics).
Or maybe we could just ban legislators from public parks. I don't have the stats, but they seem to be a pretty criminal ridden bunch.
Here are some CCP stats for your reading pleasure. Note the almost insignificant crime rate by permit holders.
http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/administration/crime_records/chl/convrates.htm
http://www.michigan.gov/msp/0,1607,7-123-1591_3503_4654-77621--,00.html
http://licgweb.doacs.state.fl.us/stats/cw_monthly.html
http://www.justfacts.com/guncontrol.asp
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It's insane to allow guns in playgrounds. Period. Why aren't normal people loud and organized? Sadly, because we're normal.
JL: Its not nice to confuse Jeff with the facts on concealed carry. He omits all facts that do not agree with him and might make hi reevaluate his position.
Having a slow day so I will "assist" Jeff along his path to freedom from hopolophobia.
In 2005, Texas convicted 60,873 people for a crime(felony and misdemeanor). Of those convicted, 153 had concealed hand gun permits. That is a "crime rate" of .2513%.
Those concealed hand gunners are a real pack of thugs, aren't they?
http://www.txdps.state.tx.us/administration/crime_records/chl/ConvictionRatesReport2005.pdf
I don't suppose it's really necessary to point out the bias in picking 3 cases in the context of hundreds of thousands of people as a vehicle for motivating legislation, is it?
Anytime someone only picks and chooses "facts" that support the argument, rather than consider both sides of the argument and draw a conclusion from them, I dismiss them entirely. You have something to sell, but I think the only buyers you'll find are members of your own choir.
