HankT
State Researcher
imported post
More progress by the NRA andgun rightsadvocates...
Tuesday, 05/08/07
Self-defense bill passes both houses
By SHEILA WISSNER
Staff Writer
Legislation to give people more leeway in defending themselves when faced with a violent threat has passed both houses of the General Assembly.
Passage of the measures has been hailed by gun-rights advocates, including the National Rifle Association. But others say the new law takes Tennessee in the wrong direction.
Currently, Tennesseans can use deadly force when faced with the threat of death or serious injury in their own home.
A bill approved by the Senate and House in the past two weeks extends those areas to include all homes and vehicles, regardless of who owns them.
"We are so excited to get this legislation passed in Tennessee,'' said Rachel Parsons, spokeswoman for the NRA.
Gun-control advocates say it's a bad idea.
"I could regale you for hours about how that has gone hellishly wrong," said Zach Ragbourn, assistant director for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
Ragbourn said laws like that presume the shooter acted in self-defense regardless of the circumstances. He pointed to a Florida case in which two men fired at each other, hitting a 9-year-old girl. Police could not prove who shot first, and both claimed self-defense.
Another bill that passed both houses would prevent the governor or any local official from rounding up weapons or limiting their sale or transport in a state of emergency or disaster.
Similar bills have become law in more than a dozen other states in reaction to the confiscation of guns in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
The Tennessee bills will soon go to Gov. Phil Bredesen, who can sign them into law, veto them or let them be come law without his signature.
http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070508/NEWS0201/705080372
More progress by the NRA andgun rightsadvocates...
Tuesday, 05/08/07
Self-defense bill passes both houses
By SHEILA WISSNER
Staff Writer
Legislation to give people more leeway in defending themselves when faced with a violent threat has passed both houses of the General Assembly.
Passage of the measures has been hailed by gun-rights advocates, including the National Rifle Association. But others say the new law takes Tennessee in the wrong direction.
Currently, Tennesseans can use deadly force when faced with the threat of death or serious injury in their own home.
A bill approved by the Senate and House in the past two weeks extends those areas to include all homes and vehicles, regardless of who owns them.
"We are so excited to get this legislation passed in Tennessee,'' said Rachel Parsons, spokeswoman for the NRA.
Gun-control advocates say it's a bad idea.
"I could regale you for hours about how that has gone hellishly wrong," said Zach Ragbourn, assistant director for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence.
Ragbourn said laws like that presume the shooter acted in self-defense regardless of the circumstances. He pointed to a Florida case in which two men fired at each other, hitting a 9-year-old girl. Police could not prove who shot first, and both claimed self-defense.
Another bill that passed both houses would prevent the governor or any local official from rounding up weapons or limiting their sale or transport in a state of emergency or disaster.
Similar bills have become law in more than a dozen other states in reaction to the confiscation of guns in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
The Tennessee bills will soon go to Gov. Phil Bredesen, who can sign them into law, veto them or let them be come law without his signature.
http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070508/NEWS0201/705080372