By AP
Nashville, TN – Tennessee Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Haslam is expressing frustration about media coverage of his remarks regarding handgun carry permits. Haslam says he would OK potential legislation to do away with a state requirement to obtain a permit to carry a handgun in public. Haslam says the attention has been unwarranted because he does not consider guns a pressing issue amid the state's budget pressures.
Democrat Mike McWherter has seized on Haslam's gun comments on the campaign trail and in television ads. Haslam in turn released a TV spot this week decrying his opponent's ad as part of the "silly season" before the election.