Members of the Memphis Shelby Crime Commission say they formally oppose Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee’s Constitutional Carry bill.
This, according to the Memphis-based WREG, which said this came about after members took a vote.
“The Crime Commission says 39 out of 49 participating members voted to oppose the governor’s gun plan,” the station reported.
“Those members also reportedly voted to support proposed enhanced sentences for theft of guns and convicted felons in possession of guns.”
The station posted a statement from the Crime Commission, which said it wants a reduction in gun violence as part of its Safe Community Plan.
“Tennessee has a handgun permit system under which over a half million Tennesseans have obtained permits after proper training and background checks,” Crime Commission members said in the statement.
“Simply put, the handgun carry proposal would gut our handgun permit system. Absent some other prohibition such as a felony conviction or domestic violence conviction, individuals would be able to arm themselves with handguns – unconcealed or concealed – with no training or background checks.”
As The Tennessee Star reported last month, with the passage of the governor’s Constitutional Carry legislation, Tennessee will join Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Vermont, West Virginia and Wyoming, according to the National Rifle Association.
Also, as The Star reported, Lee’s bill, if enacted into law, would extend the constitutional rights to carry a handgun to all law-abiding citizens, with or without a permit, who are 21 and over except in restricted areas, Lee said.
The proposed law would also increase penalties on people who steal or who unlawfully possess a firearm. Proposed penalties would include a mandatory minimum sentence for anyone who steals a firearm.
Also, as reported, People on the left side of the political spectrum warned that more Tennesseans will die if Lee gets his way on his proposed Constitutional Carry Law.
– – –
Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].
Images “Memphis Shelby Crime Commission Seal” and “Memphis” by Memphis Shelby Crime Commission.
That so many LE Officers in Tennessee are in favor of the Constitutional Carry Law is proof that this country is regaining its respect for the Constitution and its common sense. So far the only negative comments I have seen are from community officials in poorly managed cities. Any statements claiming otherwise are FAKE NEWS.
No need for those in Memphis to support this law. Everyone over there who wants to – including criminals – already carries. Just check out their crime statistics.
That many state law enforcement officials oppose Governor Lee’s Carry Bill shows that it is not just the so-called bleeding heart leftists/liberals that oppose the governor on this one. The police, not the governor and is fellow politicians, are not the ones on the front lines fighting crime. Governor Lee can go to his comfy safe mansion at the end of the work day with the best body guard system that money can buy. These men and women who voted to pass this bill should be the first ones, instead of our police officers, risking life and limb to stop violent criminals.
“Also, as The Star reported, Lee’s bill, if enacted into law, would extend the constitutional rights to carry a handgun to all law-abiding citizens, with or without a permit, who are 21 and over except in restricted areas, Lee said.
No! We already have that DECLARED RIGHT in Article I, Section 26 of the Tennessee Declaration of Rights! The bill should say, “pursuant to our right to keep and carry arms for self defense, no permit shall be required in that it is UNLAWFUL for the State to require a permit, payment and background check for citizens of this State to exercise the right of armed self defense or any other right!
I wish the Tennessee Star had a “like” button because this response is definitely deserving of one!
Of course a bastion of liberalism would oppose people protecting themselves.
Mary, tbe classical liberalism of our founders prefers that liberty and the choice to exercise it belongs totally to the People. “A bastion” which opposes Liberty is not liberalis, but eftist authoritarianism. The author of the Declaration of Independence and champion of Liberty, Thomas Jefferson, says it well:
“The constitutions of most of our states assert that all power is inherent in the people; THAT THEY MAY EXERCISE IT BY THEMSELVES, in all cases to which they think themselves competent, (as in electing their functionaries executive and legislative, and deciding by a jury of themselves, both fact and law, in all judiciary cases in which any fact is involved) or they may act by representatives, freely and equally chosen; THAT IT US THEIR RIGHT AND DUTY TO BE AT ALL TIMES ARMED; that they are entitled to freedom of person; freedom of religion; freedom of property; and freedom of the press. –Thomas Jefferson
Does this surprise anybody? The last I saw, Memphis was in the top 5 cities in the USA for crime. Could it be that somehow a large percentage of those 39 are somehow personally benefitting from the status quo? Just check out the “shakedown” racket they’ve got going on their website.
https://memphiscrime.org/contributors/
Doesn’t it ever sound a bit fishy when problems seem to go on and on and on, that there’s always “big money” associated with it? Just look at the failure of our education system, and the flushing of money down the endless drain, associated with it.
How about we fire 39 people and use that “big money” to give every law abiding citizen in Memphis a way to defeat crime when it happens!