Fellow Tennesseans:

I urge you to read and understand the legal storm that is headed your way.  New York government, mobilized by the shooting deaths of two police officers by illegally-posessed firearms, are mounting a nationwide campaign to bring gun control to states they feel don't manage the sale/transfer of firearms to their satisfaction.  They want their gun control laws to be the standard, and they'll be pressuring your state government to enact these laws.

Call and write your representatives and governor, let them know you don't want New York's government dictating Tennessee law.

New York City gun laws are even worse than the NJ examples I'll give below from my own experience since moving here, but here's a taste of what the New York government wants for you:

Buying a rifle or shotgun requires a state-issued Firearm Purchaser ID Card, for which you are fingerprinted and pay over $50 cash or money order only.  After the 2+ month wait for background check (state law says 30 days max, but do since when do dictators follow their own laws?) you are fingerprinted again and issued a piece of paper that entitles you to buy rifles/shotguns only.  If you want a pistol, that's a separate permit *per pistol* which the state issues.  And when you buy one, the permit paperwork and serial# of the weapon are returned to the police...de facto gun registration.

Even a person-to-person sale of a rifle requires a certificate of eligibility, which includes the serial# of the rifle and must then be filed with the New Jersey State Police...de facto gun registration.  Pistols must go thru FFL for all transfers...which invokes the need for the Firearms ID Card and pistol purchase permit described above...except inheritance upon death of the owner.

New Jersey still has a Clinton-style Assault Weapons Ban in effect, and has resulted in the arrest of an NRA-certified instructor for owning one...a Marlin Model 60 .22LR rifle which met the definition of "assault rifle" because the fixed magazine held more than 15 rounds.

Most shooting ranges here are private clubs, and the majority of them submit their membership lists to the New Jersey State Police annually.

And New York City has even tighter gun control laws.  All firearms are registered.  You have to have a permit just to own a rifle or pistol...if the permit lapses, you are ordered to surrender your weapon(s) to the police.  In Long Island, examples of 6 months wait for permits to be issued are common.

Below are two an exerpt from the local papers, the first spells out his plan.  The second article shows how he is not mentioning the poor record his prosecutors have run up in enforcing the current gun laws...only 1/3 of people arrested for illegal gun posession spend more than a few days in jail.

"Now we have a duty as well, one that rises above partisan politics, and one we will pursue relentlessly," Mr. Bloomberg said to his greatest applause of the day. "And that is to rid our streets of guns and punish all of those who possess and traffic in these instruments of death." Calling guns "a national threat," he vowed to "make common cause with our fellow Americans" and to "take our message to Albany, to Washington and to every capital of every state that permits guns to flow freely across its borders." In the last few weeks, after the shooting deaths of two New York police officers, Detective Dillon Stewart and Officer Daniel Enchautegui, members of Mr. Bloomberg's staff have privately said that he is becoming more angered about what he believes to be efforts by special interests to stand in the way of legislation to combat gun trafficking. The mayor even seemed to take a jab at the National Rifle Association, directing his promise to pursue the "tools we need" to reduce gun violence, and carry the message to "those who distort our laws and aid and abet hardened criminals." Edward Skyler, a spokesman for the mayor, said Mr. Bloomberg would announce the specifics of his anti-gun campaign in the coming weeks. When asked if the mayor would propose federal and local legislation, Mr. Skyler said only that the campaign would be "multifaceted."

Here's the part he is leaving out...

GUN-SHY JUSTICE By BRAD HAMILTON, PHILIP RECCHIA and PHILIP MESSING December 18, 2005 -- A thug who is busted for wielding a loaded handgun in New York City has an astonishing 77 percent chance of ducking jail, a Post analysis of state arrest stats revealed. And even if the gunslinger does go to the slammer, he's not likely to stay long. Of those who got jail time last year, more than two-thirds went away for a year or less, despite facing up to 15 years in prison, as state laws allow, the stats show. "This seems to be a strikingly low percentage of people actually serving time for possession," said Jackie Coles, executive director of New Yorkers Against Gun Violence, an advocacy group. The Post asked for the stats from the state's Division of Criminal Justice Services as outrage mounts over gunplay in the city. Gov. Pataki has ordered a special session of the state Legislature Wednesday in order to hammer out a tougher weapons law. The stats look at convictions and incarcerations in the five boroughs between 2000 and 2004 for second- and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon — the two charges that gun offenders face when caught with a loaded firearm. They examine only those cases in which the weapons allegation is the top charge. The stats show that of the 1,513 thugs busted in 2004 on second-degree weapon-possession charges — a crime in which the gunman intends to use his weapon to commit an additional offense — just 46 percent were convicted and a mere 25 percent went to jail. Of the 3,348 suspects nailed for third-degree charges, where mere possession of a loaded weapon was alleged, 54 percent were convicted and 22 percent did time. The result? Only 1,128 of the 4,861 people busted on the two gun charges actually saw the inside of a cell — a paltry 23 percent. A single count of second-degree weapon possession carries a maximum of 15 years in jail. Third-degree possession maxes out at seven years in the slammer. Those arrested in Brooklyn and The Bronx stand the best chance of getting off — as a mere one in five in those boroughs did time for a felony gun charge in 2004. Offenders in Manhattan were the most likely to land in the big house: One in three went away, the stats show. But more often than not, the time they served amounted to 12 months or less. The stats show that 143 of the 1,128 who were convicted on either of the two charges in 2004 did state prison time — which means more than a year in the pokey. But 834 — or 73 percent of the total — spent their time in a city jail, meaning they served one year or less. As anger grows over the spread of guns into the city, critics claim the stats are an embarrassment to prosecutors, who often accept plea deals on weapons charges and let suspects go with probation, a fine or conditional discharge. Some say more should be done to stop the flow of illegal weapons in the first place. "The focus needs to be upstream on gun traffickers, which would prevent thousands of these possession cases," said Coles. Not all the district attorneys have the same record of shame. In each of the last four years, Manhattan has had the highest percentage of felony convictions for those sent to jail for firearms offenses, according to DCJS stats. [email protected]

I am pretty sure they will receive the good ole boy welcome here.  

What part of will not be infringed don't they get.  The Bill of Rights is not to be changed.

Quoted: What part of will not be infringed don't they get.  The Bill of Rights is not to be changed.

That's exactly the point these guys want to avoid.  For example, Jon Corzine just got elected Governor here in New Jersey on a key plank of the Constitution being a "living document".  

This means he and the judges he appoints believe they can re-interpret the Constitution by their own whacky standards, not the framers' documented intent.

Fortunately the Corzine clan is limited to state level and I'm only here temporarily, but the experience thus far has been like watching The Twilight Zone.  Even the Republican candidate in last year's governor race promised to ban .50cal rifles and require background checks just to buy any type of ammunition.

Quoted: Quoted: Even the Republican candidate in last year's governor race promised to ban .50cal rifles and require background checks just to buy any type of ammunition. wow. sounds like somebody needs an attitude adjustment.

It's a different world up here for sure.  Bloomberg's a "Republican" also, but you'd not guess it reading his blame-the-guns message.

Eternal vigilance is the price of Liberty...

Thanks for the heads up man! It wouldn't suprise me if any anti-gun POS in the state gov't tryed to pass something like this.
I wish more people like you would network like you have.
Thanks again.

Quoted: I am pretty sure they will receive the good ole boy welcome here.

+1

We don't give a shit how they do it up Nawth.

I predict Bloomberg's reception here will be less than cordial.

Quoted: I predict Bloomberg's reception here will be less than cordial.

That's the problem, it's not likely he'll be on a parade float if he even bothers to come...they'll be applying pressure to elected leaders they see as sympathetic as quietly as they can.

That's why it is important to call/write the Governor and your local Representatives early and often.

The NY actions are tragic comedy thus far.  Two policemen shot with illegal pistols has now spawned a new Assault Weapon Ban somehow.  The list of "allowable features" is proposed to drop from two to zero.  No muzzle devices, no detachable magazines, no pistol grip, etc.  And of course, a .50cal ban.  

Just heard on the news tonight that a local Chattanooga gun store had a law suit filed against it by the the bloomin idiots in n.y.c

A gun used in a crime in n.y.c was bought at this Chattanooga gun store.

I just e-mailed all my State Reps. and all my Fed Reps.


I can't believe all the the gun owners I know that don't care,  I think I will start refering to them as dead beats.  

It's one thing to butt heads with the anti's but when the ones that are on the same side as us don't care what are we to do?

Quoted: Just heard on the news tonight that a local Chattanooga gun store had a law suit filed against it by the the bloomin idiots in n.y.c A gun used in a crime in n.y.c was bought at this Chattanooga gun store. I just e-mailed all my State Reps. and all my Fed Reps. I can't believe all the the gun owners I know that don't care,  I think I will start refering to them as dead beats.   It's one thing to butt heads with the anti's but when the ones that are on the same side as us don't care what are we to do?

Sportsman's Supply on Hixson Pike is what I heard on the radio.  Dont have any more details yet though.

And thus it begins.  This instance will be their rallying shout, gun laws in (insert free state here) are just too soft!

If the shop skirted the law, let 'em hang.  If, on the other hand, it was a legal transaction from the shop and the buyer broke the law in reselling it, then by God apply the law as it's written and jail the SOB.

Please get calling and writing, and spread the word.  I'm coming back to TN at some point and I want it still free when I get there.  

Quoted: Quoted: I am pretty sure they will receive the good ole boy welcome here.   +1 We don't give a shit how they do it up Nawth.

+2

Quoted: If the shop skirted the law, let 'em hang.  If, on the other hand, it was a legal transaction from the shop and the buyer broke the law in reselling it, then by God apply the law as it's written and jail the SOB.

I suspect it was a legal transaction from the FFL's end.

Gun control is hitting what your aiming at,  i dont need Bloomburgs help or any other scumbag politicians help. Besides i sold all my guns at a yard sell except my safe queen a .25 Jennings