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The New Normal: No Gun Permit? No Problem By AMY WEIRICH
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s we slowly begin removing our masks and climbing out from the forced isolation of the COVID pandemic, we still are faced with that other pandemic - gun violence. Unfortunately, the gun violence pandemic here and across the country shows no sign of slowing down. And there is no vaccine for this one. In fact, on July 1, the opposite of a vaccine arrives when permit-less carry becomes the law in Tennessee. With just a handful of exceptions, anyone over 21 can legally carry a handgun in public. No training required. What could possibly go wrong? Memphis had a record 332 homicides in 2020, with 80 percent of those involving guns. More than 1,300 people were shot. That’s not a misprint. Reports to police of shots fired: 21,000. Again, not a misprint. Nationwide, nearly 20,000 homicides involving guns were reported, according to the non-profit Gun Violence Archive. Clearly, there are far too many guns in the wrong hands, the hands of those looking for victims to rob, to get even with, or to kill. Currently, 716,027 Tennesseans have handgun permits. They passed a basic background check and completed a basic firearms training class. Is that really too much to ask? A permit is what separates those who hope they never have to pull the trigger from those who are itching to do just that. Law enforcement officers who see someone in public with a handgun can ask to see their permit and quickly determine whether this is a law abider who has been trained or a law breaker who should be charged with a crime. Without a permit, there is no way for officers to know 12
who is carrying to protect and who is carrying to prey. Yet, come July 1, Tennessee is doing away with the permit requirement to carrying around a dangerous weapon. No training? No problem. Some 20 other states also have adopted permit-less or, as its supporters call it, Constitutional carry. You only must be at least 21 (18 to 20 if in the military) and be a Tennessee resident. Still excluded from legally having a handgun are convicted felons, those with mental health issues, or those with convictions for domestic violence, stalking or drunken driving. Theft of a firearm, now a misdemeanor, becomes a felony under the permit-less carry law with a six-month mandatory sentence. That’s the tradeoff. In 2013, when the legislature passed the so-called guns-in-trunks law, Memphis had reported 358 thefts of guns from motor vehicles. That was about average before the law went into effect. When large numbers of gun owners began legally keeping their guns in their vehicles, the thefts immediately jumped. Criminals may not follow the law, but they know the law – and they know where to look for guns. Last year 1,324 guns were stolen from cars in Memphis. That number almost certainly will go up as people buy guns with no requirement to know how to safely store them. (A lock box in the trunk is an excellent way to store a gun. Even better is a lock box at home so kids are not endangered.) Here is perhaps why Tennessee is so divided on the gun issue. In the large rural areas of the state, where hunting is popular, young people learn about gun safety from their elders or from hunting organizations. In Memphis and other densely populated urban areas of the state, where hunting is not an option for many, young people are exposed to firearms at an early age, but with no safety instruction whatsoever.
