Constitution makes an appearance in House debates

In Thursday morning's House debate on HB 0082, which would expand the gun authorization of judges, Rep. Susan Lynn gave an interesting and even eloquent argument about the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment in opposition to Rep. Fincher's amendment to the bill that would allow legislators the same privileges.

I knew she was a fan of the Tenth Amendment, but I admit every time she or someone else brought it up, I found myself asking aloud, "What about the Fourteenth?" She knows it well and made good use of it on the floor. Obviously, I'd like to see much more extensive use made of the Fourteenth Amendment with respect to some other legislation being considered this session. But I have to give her props.

Democrats "outgunned" in the Legislature

According to Andy Sher of the Times Free Press, 22 Republicans and 12 Democrats in the Legislature have permits to carry loaded handguns. That's a little over a quarter of the members. Holding a permit is not necessarily an indicator of one's position on the different gun bills in the Legislature this year:

“One of four has it? I’m really surprised,” said Rep. Naifeh. He noted he obtained his permit in part last year to demonstrate he was not anti-gun but largely “anti-gun in bars” when he blocked handgun-carry permit bills in a House subcommittee.

No local legislators have gun permits, according to a review of the Safety Department database. The handgun permit totals do not include as many as five other lawmakers eligible to carry guns as current or retired members of law enforcement.

While then-Speaker Naifeh blocked many of the bills in recent years, the issue has taken on new life with the election of a new House Speaker, Kent Williams of Elizabethton, a Republican-turned independent, who does not hold a permit, records show.

Red States, Get Your Guns

The reports are that there is a rush on gun buying around the country because of fears that somehow an Obama administration working with Congress will move to restrict gun rights. Take Montana, for example:

In Helena, the owner of Montana Outdoor Sports said he thinks a ban on all gun sales is unlikely but expects some form of taxes or restrictions, which is boosting business now.

"We're selling a lot. Especially on the internet. That's where a lot of it is going. We just shipped out about four more hand guns through the postal service," Rex Seeley said.

I was in Knoxville this weekend leading a seminar on citizen advocacy. I know, not as exciting as guns. But guns came up. Some of the participants, many of whom were Obama supporters from all over East Tennessee, said that they had regularly gotten into arguments with their neighbors about gun issues. So it's not surprising that Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey has mentioned 2nd Amendment issues coming up in the next legislative session. Several candidates campaigned on the issue, but then again some of them campaigned on "gay marriage," which they can't do much more about than they've already done. I'm not sure at this point what kind of legislation is planned, but it won't be long until we find out.

Gay marriage "...doesn't bother me one bit," says Toby Keith

Great American Country took a look at some of the top stars' views on patriotism. Democrat Toby Keith shows a great deal of independence in his views that defy an easy label.

Toby’s stance on the war in Afghanistan got him mislabelled as a Republican, and many assumed — incorrectly, as it turned out — that he also thought the war in Iraq was a good idea. Clearly, Toby is able to take a stand with either party at various times, showing his belief system to be beyond politics.

"My right to carry a gun is not political," he says. "I’m an American, and that is my right as an American, just like it’s my right to vote... Do I care if gay people get married? I could care less. It doesn’t bother me one bit. When you look at Al Gore trying to save the planet, that’s not a political issue."

Instead, he suggests, it’s a social issue that everyone should be examining.

"If the polar ice cap is melting and we’re doing it, I need to educate myself," he says, adding, "I don’t see things right-left. I see them right-wrong."

One can argue about whether it matters what a country star or any other celebrity thinks about politics. On the issue of same-sex marriage it matters in this way. Very few male country stars are on record as being supportive of GLBT issues. Culture shapes politics. Country music and men's professional sports are still frontiers when it comes to issues of sexuality and gender. If there are whole cultural arenas in which these issues are not addressed in a positive way, then that reinforces negative views about GLBT people. Keith's comments are a breath of fresh air. He makes them confidently in a way that no one could question the masculinity that helps define a male country star. He's his own man.

Secret guns

There's a move afoot in the Legislature to close gun records, according to the Tennessean. http://www.tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080326/NEWS0201/803260429

One opponent argues thus: "This is information about who is being licensed to have a special permit in your state, through an agency paid for with your taxpayer dollars," said Lucy Dalglish, executive director of The Reporters' Committee for Freedom of the Press, based in Virginia. "Why wouldn't you want to know that?"

I'm no fan of guns, but his appeal to the use of taxpayer dollars doesn't mean anything goes. If I'm treated at a public facility for chest pains, that doesn't mean reporters have the right to my health information. I think the stronger argument would be over public safety. But it seems as if publishing the names and addresses of everyone who takes out a permit for a gun might increase gun theft, which is a huge problem itself.

Speaker praised for leadership on gun bills

In a Jackson Sun opinion piece, House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh is praised for exercising his prerogative as Speaker to participate in committee and subcommittee votes--specifically on some gun bills in the Legislature: http://www.jacksonsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080324/OPINION/803240301/-1/newsfront2 .

No doubt many in Tennessee's GLBT community will remember when he used his prerogative to stop a ban on gay and lesbian adoptions during a 2005 committee vote.