Carrying in public parks


braggon

New member
Hi all, I've checked in here a few times and decided to join to help gather and spread experiences and info. I have long been under the impression that our carry permits did not allow us to carry in public parks and playgrounds. After studying the TN codes on Tennessee's website though I'm not sure.

39-17-1311. Carrying weapons on public parks, playgrounds, civic centers and other public recreational buildings and grounds. —

(a) It is an offense for any person to possess or carry, whether openly or concealed, with the intent to go armed, any weapon prohibited by § 39-17-1302(a), not used solely for instructional, display or sanctioned ceremonial purposes, in or on the grounds of any public park, playground, civic center or other building facility, area or property owned, used or operated by any municipal, county or state government, or instrumentality thereof, for recreational purposes.


Notice the reference to 39-17-1302(a), that is a list of weapons that doesn't include handguns, ie brass knuckles, switchblades, sawed off shotguns.....

Anybody think this prohibits us from carrying when we take the kids to the playground, or is it covered somewhere else?
 

I wrote the AG for TN on this very subject. Supposing he is the final authority for the interpretation of the law. I quoted the same thing you have here. So far no answer. I guess I never expected one either. Its been a few weeks since I sent the letter to him.

I have to agree with your assesment of the law as written. I to want to carry in these areas. I guess I need to ask the local law enforcement as to their interpretation 'cuz they are the ones that will be hauling me away or saying have a good day.

I will be monitoring this thread for anymore insight.
 
He has already issued two opinions on this. Link Removed Question 3, then when many people disagreed with him, because of the language you mention, he issued another Link Removed affirming his previous position that it is illegal.

I still personally disagree, but oh well.

My hope is that with the federal government allowing carry in National Parks now, it will be easier to get park carry in TN. The new speaker has said he wants bills of this type to come to the floor instead of being killed in committee, we'll see.

The thing to watch is, in the past some of the bill introduced only allowed carry in State parks, but did not address county or city parks. There was one bill that simply did away with 39-17-1311 altogether, that is what I'd rather see myself.
 
What we need to do is contact our state legislators and ask them to propose legislation to eliminate the places that we can't carry. The more we do the better our chances of getting something accomplished

The only place we shouldn't be able to carry is in a court room or a police station. I won't argue for or against restaurants. Although I would like to be able to stop at Apple bee's for lunch when I'm out with the family, I can understand there is a greater likelihood of stupidity there.
 
What we need to do is contact our state legislators and ask them to propose legislation to eliminate the places that we can't carry. The more we do the better our chances of getting something accomplished

The only place we shouldn't be able to carry is in a court room or a police station. I won't argue for or against restaurants. Although I would like to be able to stop at Apple bee's for lunch when I'm out with the family, I can understand there is a greater likelihood of stupidity there.

We can carry in a police station now, as long as the building isn't posted.

I am sure the same legislators that have introduced bills in the past to remove restrictions on carry in parks and restaurants and schools will introduce them again this session. When they do I will try to post the bill numbers. It is always good to mention specific bill numbers, if you can, when you contact your elected official.
 
Tennessee has a "safe Harbor" rule. What that means is that if you are carrying in a park and have to use your gun in a life threatening situation, they basically give you a pass on the gun possession because without it, you could be dead. Of course, that doesn't excuse you from any legal or civil action brought forth through the use of the gun, it just means they won't slap your hand for carrying in a GFZ. I remember this from the HCP class.
 
BTW I noticed a few months ago that the Rivergate Mall in Madison is posted. It's the only retail establishment that I've seen that is. I heard from talking about it with a few friends that they had a gang like shooting there back in July so that was their knee-jerk reaction.

I sent them an e-mail explaining that won't stop gang members or criminals from carrying weapons, it will just stop me from shopping there.
 
I wrote the AG for TN on this very subject. Supposing he is the final authority for the interpretation of the law. I quoted the same thing you have here. So far no answer. I guess I never expected one either. Its been a few weeks since I sent the letter to him.

[/
QUOTE]

You will not hear ANYTHING back from the AG. If he had to answer every email asking him the intent of the law, the state would require a fully staffed office to get it done.

He WILL, however, issue a ruling at the request of a State Senator. According to his website, that is the vehicle you must pursue in order to expect a ruling. Write a letter to your state senator asking him to request on your behalf a clarification of the law. He/she will, in turn, request an AG opinion. I'm not sure about the time frame, but I'm pretty sure the AG is required to submit an opinion, as requested by a Senator.

Let us know how that turns out.
 
The only place we shouldn't be able to carry is in a court room or a police station. I won't argue for or against restaurants. Although I would like to be able to stop at Apple bee's for lunch when I'm out with the family, I can understand there is a greater likelihood of stupidity there.


The problem with getting that law past Jimmy Naifeh is that you say "Applebees", but he spins it and gets the liberals in a froth by saying "bars".

Which is worse to the sheep public?

"Guns in BARS"

or

"Guns in restaurants that happen to serve beer"


??????
 
I wrote the AG for TN on this very subject. Supposing he is the final authority for the interpretation of the law. I quoted the same thing you have here. So far no answer. I guess I never expected one either. Its been a few weeks since I sent the letter to him.

[/
QUOTE]

You will not hear ANYTHING back from the AG. If he had to answer every email asking him the intent of the law, the state would require a fully staffed office to get it done.

He WILL, however, issue a ruling at the request of a State Senator. According to his website, that is the vehicle you must pursue in order to expect a ruling. Write a letter to your state senator asking him to request on your behalf a clarification of the law. He/she will, in turn, request an AG opinion. I'm not sure about the time frame, but I'm pretty sure the AG is required to submit an opinion, as requested by a Senator.

Let us know how that turns out.

It doesn't have to be a State Senator, your State Representative can do it too. In fact 07-148 is directly from questions I sent to my Rep that was relayed to the AG.

But you are right, the AG is prohibited by law from giving opinions, directly to the average citizen. In some states though the AG can issue opinions to the public, although they don't carry they same legal weight as the ones given to elected officials. I wish TN would do something like this.
 
The mayor of Seattle has ordered the implementation of a city ordinance banning handguns in city parks in Seattle. This flies in the face of Washington's pre-emption law, which reserves the right to make any laws concerning firearms to the state legislature. I hope Governor Chris "Spend like a drunken sailer" Gregoire puts him in his place.
 
The problem with getting that law past Jimmy Naifeh is that you say "Applebees", but he spins it and gets the liberals in a froth by saying "bars".

Which is worse to the sheep public?

"Guns in BARS"

or

"Guns in restaurants that happen to serve beer"


??????

Well hopefully now that Jimmy Naifeh doesn't hold the gavel we can get some less restrictive laws passed, we'll have to wait and see if Kent Williams is just a RINO doing the Dems bidding.
 
He just might be, but at least he's pledged to allow bills to come to the House floor for a vote, rather than killing them outright in committee.
 
That's about all I can hope for. I think the guy has run as a Conservative, but it looks like his personal ambition caused him to side with the "enemy" for this position. Maybe he'll be better than what we're expecting. I am looking forward to some TRUE "common sense" gun laws to come out of the General Assembly very soon.
 

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