Thursday, October 13, 2011
Politics House Firearms Task Force Canceled—the Chairman Went to Jail
Posted by Jeff Woods on Thu, Oct 13, 2011 at 10:15 AM
House Republican leaders have decided to cancel meetings of their much-ballyhooed, brand new task force on gun rights rather than suffer an inevitable humiliation in the media. The task force chairman just went to jail for driving drunk with a loaded gun. Oops!
"With the chairman otherwise occupied," GOP leader Gerald McCormick notes wryly, it might be smart to scrap this whole task force idea. The first meetings, scheduled for later this month by chairman Curry Todd, are definitely off, McCormick says, and he'll decide over the weekend whether to do away with the panel altogether.
It has suddenly occurred to McCormick that the public might not be too keen on its elected officials focusing on the expansion of gun rights at this particular time.
"This is certainly of secondary importance right now," he tells the AP's Erik Schelzig. "I think at this time we need to double back and focus in on economic issues."
The gun-control crowd is trying to capitalize on Todd's arrest to make the case against state laws letting licensed gunman roam freely just about everywhere with loaded firearms.
"This is only the latest example of the dangers of guns carried in public and underscores the futility of trying to predict who will act responsibly and who will ultimately endanger public safety,.” says Kristen Rand of the Washington, D.C.-based Violence Policy Center.
But despite this setback for the gun lobby, no one should expect Todd's arrest to cause the gun-loving legislature to rethink the state's recently expanded gun laws. That's because Democrats and Republicans alike in the legislature are slaves to the NRA and fear giving even the slightest offense.
When Tennessee's newspapers used to keep track of such things, at the height of the gun debate in Tennessee, the state's licensed gunmen took five lives in a little more than a year. The Republican response was to blow it all off as hardly worth mentioning. Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, one of the NRA's biggest proponents in Tennessee, went so far as to deny the facts and claim not a single one of our 300,000 handgun carry permit holders has caused any trouble whatsoever.
If they ignore murder and mayhem, Curry Todd's little misadventure isn't likely to sway them. To Tennessee Firearms Association president John Harris, Todd is the Jimmy Swaggart of the gun world.
“We don’t throw the Bible out just because preachers make mistakes,” Harris says.
Comments (13)
Showing 1-13 of 13
It was probably just a mild reaction of one beer, two tops, with his most recent collagen injection. Absolutely not a real DUI.
like
dislikeOne of those NRA members was on Bellemeade Blvd where people run,walk and ride and its unpleasant to come upon a goober with a gun .
Gun are not necessary ,jobs are necessary.
It's not nice to laugh at another's misfortune, but I just can't help myself. Bwahahahaha!
The article in the Tennessean mentioned one murder and five lives taken. Were the other four justifiable homicide? Over the years different members of my family have used guns three times to ward off the bad guys; none of the incidents made the news. It's estimated that, nationally, unreported acts of using firearms in self defense occurs five hundred thousand times each year. From conversations I've had I would believe those estimates. I can tell you for a fact that a gun in the hand is an attitude changer. And, of course, all you anti-gunners know that the courts have ruled that police have no duty to protect you as an individual, so basically you're really on your own when bad guys come calling. But if saving lives is the goal, the way to save the most lives is to outlaw cars. Cars kill way more people than do guns. Outlaw cars and only outlaws will have cars. Wait a minute, you need your car, don't you?
You libtards will have to pry my firearms from my cold, dead hands! Good point about the cars Brother Gast! That's why I drive a van! And you should do what I do as reinforcement to ward off the bad guys- booby trap your house! I've rigged up several very effective different kinds of traps! Only once did one backfire and that was when the postman came to my house and the trap-door malfunctioned and he fell into my little dungeon area under my front porch! He was pretty steamed but I told him that it was a good thing I hadn't put the snakes in there yet! He agreed! I got several of my other ideas watching the classic comedy, Home Alone! Anyways, if you only rely on your guns, your liable to get bad guy blood all over your carpet! Using my techniques, the bad guys are immobilized while you wait for the police to get there! Just a little food for thought for a like-minded brother!
AWP: In California my older brother booby-trapped his back door with a shotgun after a series of break-ins. He removed it after he learned he would be prosecuted for manslaughter if he killed anyone. The burglar turned out to be the teenager nextdoor. If you're parking a twenty-year-old Ford van out front you're probably not going to have many break-ins. But then, again, it only takes one.
@gast: You'd better read the case law on so-called "spring guns." The bad guy (or his estate) can end up owning the house of any homeowner who sets up such a booby-trap.
"If you're parking a twenty-year-old Ford van out front you're probably not going to have many break-ins. But then, again, it only takes one."
Au contraire Brother Gast! The illegals love big vans! I've been trying to come up with a way to booby trap the van but I haven't come across any effective ways yet! It's a little trickier than booby trapping a house! So I have to park it out back where it's not so visible!
I would say this person made a poor decision and should face the consequences of it. Firearms and alcohol do not mix, as is why TN requires complete sobriety if you carry a firearm. Punish the criminal. As a gun owner, I have no sympathy for him. When I carry a gun, not a drop of alcohol enters my body.
The article makes mention of 5 people being killed by TN permit holders. This is sad, these people should be punished for their actions severely. Murder is a crime already. What the article fails to mention is how many lives have been saved by guns, or how many crimes were prevented. That is typical of the liberal media, they ignore that whole side of the debate.
We also know that criminals will carry guns regardless. I would love to see a system where no one commits any crimes, but 100% is impossible. We can only punish those who break the law and make others think twice about doing it.
And don't be silly and say banning guns would reduce crime 100%.
