Responsible gun ownership on the line with proposed gun permit legislation | Opinion

Every step we take away from a proper permitting system is a step away from responsible gun ownership.

Leroy Farris
Guest Columnist
  • Leroy Farris is the owner of Farris Firearms Training and a resident of Columbia, Tennessee.
Leroy Farris

Last year, I stood with a coalition of firearms instructors against a bill that removed live training requirements from the permit system. I was disappointed when it passed – but this session, lawmakers are trying to go one step further. They want to remove the permit system altogether.

If last year’s bill was bad, permitless carry is worse – and I intend to appeal to lawmakers to oppose this. Every step we take away from a proper permitting system is a step away from responsible gun ownership. 

With rights comes responsibility

Responsibilities associated with carrying a concealed firearm in public are weighty. If you’re planning on bearing that responsibility, you should know how to do so safely and have a background check. And based on what I’ve seen in the hundreds of Tennessee Handgun Carry Permit classes that I’ve taught, there are plenty of students who don’t fit the bill without training.

I’ve seen students who load their magazines backwards, students who can’t safely manipulate their firearm, students who have never shot a handgun before the class – students who can not load, fire, and unload a handgun in a safe manner.

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The last thing that anyone interested in promoting public safety should want is more untrained, unchecked people carrying hidden, loaded handguns in public. Because even with proper, live-range training, it’s still incredibly difficult to effectively and safely aim and fire a gun in a public place and it doesn’t take a gun safety expert to understand that.

In split seconds, you’d have to identify friend from foe, remove your weapon from its holster, disengage the safety, bring your weapon to bear, aim, and fire accurately. The odds of one of those steps going wrong skyrockets without basic training – and when one of those steps does go wrong, innocent people pay the price.

Since Tennessee doesn't require a background check on all gun sales, scrapping the permitting system would give someone with a dangerous history a free pass to carry concealed in public.

Current permitting system isn't an overwhelming burden.

The system is efficient, and though it was more effective before lawmakers stripped training requirements last year, it still keeps the public safe by requiring background checks and at least a modicum of safety training without requiring too much cost or effort from gun owners. 

This isn’t a partisan issue, either. Tennesseans agree on this. 93% of recent Tennessee voters, including 92% of Republicans and 91 percent of gun-owning households, support requiring a permit to carry a loaded handgun in public. Because we all know that if you own a gun, you should know how to use it safely. 

Tennessee lawmakers would be taking the state further in the wrong direction if they decided to do away with permits entirely.

I support the Second Amendment and have dedicated much of my life to ensuring people exercise it responsibly. Our state lawmakers also have a responsibility to listen to their constituents and keep them safe – and if they get rid of the permitting system, they will have shirked that responsibility. I’m urging my lawmakers to take a stand for responsible gun ownership and reject permitless carry. 

Leroy Farris is the owner of Farris Firearms Training and a resident of Columbia, Tennessee.