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TN Guns in Trunks Passes Over Business Objection

Neither businesses nor firearms groups are pleased with a bill that passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee late yesterday. The “guns-in-trunks” legislation is headed to a vote of the full state Senate.

The head of the Tennessee Chamber of Commerce – Bill Ozier – told the panel that corporations see no need to expand the rights of gun owners. He also admitted businesses realize guns are already being stored in cars on their property.

“We believe that the current system of a ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ approach has work very well for many years,” he says.

Still, Ozier predicts some of the state’s largest employers will make future expansion decisions based on the outcome of this legislation.

John Harris says hogwash to those claims. He heads the Tennessee Firearms Association. But he’s not pleased with the guns in trunks bill advancing either. The current proposal requires that a person have a carry permit and own the car.

“Our position is if you legally own or possess it, you should be able to keep it in your car, no matter where you’re car is parked,” he says.

Harris says he hopes to change the legislation that will begin working its way through the state House. However, others want to add exemptions, such as making the parking lots of schools and college campuses off limits.

Blake Farmer is Nashville Public Radio's senior health care reporter. In a partnership with Kaiser Health News and NPR, Blake covers health in Tennessee and the health care industry in the Nashville area for local and national audiences.
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