Terry Wintroub
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LTE re Tennessean praise for failure of gun bill |
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Posted on: 06/16/05 - 05:10:03 |
Dear Editor:
As an informed gun rights activist, I find it depressingly easy to find errors of fact and of thinking in the media. Your June 3, 2005, piece "Celebrate the bad bills that didn't pass into law" [http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050603/OPINION01/506030379/1008/OPINION] has both.
Bad metaphor = bad thinking: "Guns and alcohol don't mix." Well, duhhh. Were you writing for dopes who would put alcohol in their guns or their guns in alcohol? Will you next offer similar advice to those who would put mayonnaise in their automobile engines or furniture wax in their lemonade? Neither the failed legislation nor anybody else is suggesting mixing alcohol and guns.
Bad fact: "Current law prohibits guns in establishments that sell liquor." WRONG! Current law applies only where liquor is sold FOR ON PREMISE CONSUMPTION (TN Code 39-17-1305). It's perfectly legal to carry in a liquor store. Furthermore, there are a slew of exceptions that DO allow people to have guns in those establishments. Further furthermore, 39-17-1321 ALREADY prohibits possession of a handgun while under the influence of alcohol.
All that aside, your editorial misses the point. We carry so that we can protect ourselves and other innocents from violent criminals. When you find a way to guarantee that no bad guys will show up in places that serve drinks, THEN we can talk about prohibiting us from carrying when we go to these places.
[Two weeks later, this letter has NOT been printed.]
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