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October 13, 2014

The Honorable Ralph McGill, Mayor, Town of Farragut
The Honorable Mary Dorothy Lamarche, Vice Mayor, Town of Farragut
The Honorable Ron Honken, Alderman, Town of Farragut
The Honorable Bob Markli, Alderman, Town of Farragut
The Honorable Ron Pinchok, Alderman, Town of Farragut

Lady and Gentlemen:

We the undersigned, on behalf of ourselves and other holders of valid handgun
carry permits, come petitioning you to rescind the current ban on carrying of
defensive firearms by permitted individuals in Farragut Municipal Parks and
Greenways.

History
There has been a longstanding Federal legal prohibition against certain prohibited persons
from owning, receiving, possessing, etc., any firearm or ammunition. See 18 U.S.C. 922(g)
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.
Any individual who holds a handgun carry permit does not fit into that prohibited persons
category.

Tennessee enacted a handgun carry permitting system about two decades ago which enables
adult citizens who undergo fingerprinting, training with a live fire qualification, a background
check, and payment of a fee, to receive a handgun carry permit
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, valid across the state, in thirty
nine other states
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, in State Parks
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, and in National Parks
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.

In 2009, the Knox County, Tennessee Commission voted to conform to State Parks and
authorize persons with handgun carry permits to carry a defensive handgun in County Parks.
The City of Knoxville and the Town of Farragut voted to create/maintain so-called Gun Free
Zones by banning such lawful carry in their parks. There is no supportable argument that
carving out these zones reduces violent crime.

Law
The Federal right to bear arms under the Second Amendment
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provides a right to wear arms as
a matter of law. The complete blanket prohibition on wearing of arms was ruled in the recent
Palmer v DC court case
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to be unconstitutional.

1
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/922
2
http://www.tn.gov/safety/handgun/handgunfaqs.shtml
3
http://www.handgunlaw.us/states/tennessee.pdf
4
http://tnstateparks.com/about/policies
5
http://www.nps.gov/grsm/parkmgmt/lawsandpolicies.htm
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A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep
and bear arms, shall not be infringed.
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http://alangura.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/DCT_OPINION.pdf

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The Second Amendment has been incorporated to the States and their subdivisions through the
McDonald v Chicago case
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, a case which cost the City of Chicago almost $400,000.00
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as the
loser in a Federal Civil Rights case.

The Town of Farragut cannot rightly designate parks as sensitive places, such as the White
House, courtrooms, and commercial airports are. In Bonidy v USPS
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, Judge Matsch, in his
order that a firearm may be brought into the parking lot of a Post Office, stated:

In sum, openly carrying a firearm outside the home is a liberty protected by the Second
Amendment. The Avon Post Office Building is a sensitive place and the ban imposed by
the USPS Regulation is a presumptively valid restriction of that liberty. The Plaintiff has
failed to present evidence to rebut that presumption. The parking lot adjacent to the
building is not a sensitive place and the Defendants (USPS) have failed to show that
an absolute ban on firearms is substantially related to their important public safety
objective. (emphasis added)

Likewise, The Town of Farragut might designate the Town Hall a sensitive place, but not its
parking lot, or the parks and greenways of the Town. As Constitutional Law Professor David
Kopel notes
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, the burden (against lawful self-defense) on a handgun carry permit holder is

Greatest when the government provides no security at all. For example, when the
postal lobby is open at night, but no government employees are there. And in parking
lots which are not monitored by government employees.

The Tennessee Constitution
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explicitly delegates to the Legislature the regulation of the
wearing of arms with a view to prevent crime.

Discussion
As stated above, Tennessee now has a five year history of handgun carry in parks, with no data
to show that crime has been prevented in parks where there is an absolute ban, such as
Farragut currently has in place. To the contrary, attacks have occurred in Knoxvilles Ijams
Nature Center
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, which has an absolute ban, and in Smoky Mountain National Park
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, where the
victim had the option of being armed, but was not. (We do not blame the National Park victim in

8
http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/09pdf/08-1521.pdf
9
http://armsandthelaw.com/archives/chicago_gun_case/
10
http://www.mountainstateslegal.org/news-updates/case-documents/2013/07/09/bonidy-v.-usps-
order#.VDamzWddXnh
11
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/10/02/bonidy-v-united-states-the-
second-amendment-at-the-post-office/
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Tennessee State Constitution, Article I, Section 26: That the citizens of this state have a right to keep
and to bear arms for their common defense; but the Legislature shall have power, by law, to regulate the
wearing of arms with a view to prevent crime.
13
http://www.local8now.com/news/headlines/Sketch-released-of-Ijams-sexual-assault-suspect-
219949121.html
14
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/man-gets-27year-sentence-in-smokies-attack_35676952

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any way, but simply note that one has the choice to be armed in National Parks; the Ijams victim
did not have a choice.) You only need to put rapes in Tennessee parks in a search engine to
find a significant number of instances in the last few years. In all these cases, the perpetrators
did not make appointments, but struck without warning.

Former Alderman Jeff Elliott noted
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his reason for continuing the park ban

I voted in favor of the ban since "parks" also includes ballfields in addition to the
walkways and trailways that you mention. As long as our ballfields are included in this
definition I remain in favor of the ban. I've spent too many years coaching youth
baseball and soccer to want to see irate parents, coaches or even umpires/officials with
ready access to firearms in the heat of an argument/disagreement. It makes no sense to
me and does not, in my opinion, enhance the safety of the kids playing sports, to have a
a (sic) bad situation become even worse owing to the easy access to a firearm.

That argument has not proven to be valid over the last five years in Knox County Parks. This
begs the question; do we really think Farragut residents are more prone to violence than other
Knox County residents? Or, will parents go to a game at Concord Park (Knox County) and be
passive watchers one week, then pull their guns the next week at Mayor Bob Leonard Park
(Farragut)?

In contrast with Mr. Elliotts assertion, noted researcher John Lott, in his book More Guns, Less
Crime
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, writes

In interviews with felony prisoners in ten state correctional systems, 56% claimed that
they would not attack a potential victim who was known to be armed. Indeed, the
criminals in states with high civilian gun ownership were the most worried about
encountering armed victims.

Regarding school functions, a careful reading of the AG opinion
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regarding school functions in
parks places the onus on the handgun carry permit holder to avoid parks where school functions
are occurring

Reading Tenn. Code Ann. 39-17-1309 together with Chapter 428 indicates that the
legislature intended to allow handgun carry permit holders to carry their firearms into
public parks except onto athletic fields and into other recreation areas at times when
they are actually being used by schools. (emphasis added)

Regarding Founders Park at Campbell Station
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, posting of that property prohibits legally armed
citizens from accessing the Farragut Branch of the Knox County Library. Library patrons, who

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email from: Jeff Elliott <jelliott865@hotmail.com> to: Liston Matthews <listont@gmail.com> date: Tue,
Jul 9, 2013 at 11:23 AM subject: RE: Ban on guns in Farragut parks
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More Guns, Less Crime: Understanding Crime and Gun Control Laws, Third Edition (Studies in Law
and Economics) by John R. Lott Jr. (May 24, 2010)
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http://www.tn.gov/attorneygeneral/op/2009/op/op129.pdf

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might otherwise carry a defensive firearm in their vehicle while traveling to the library cannot
reasonably access the library without driving through Founders Park.

Conclusion
Legal precedent indicates that the Second Amendment right to bear arms begins when
one exits ones home. It should not be arbitrarily ended because one desires to visit a
public park where no security is provided.

Parks, unless being used by school groups do not fit within the definition of sensitive
places, as determined by the Tennessee Attorney General.

Parks have been documented to have enough dangerous attacks in them to warrant the
prudent carrying of defensive weapons.

We have no criminal records, yet fear arrest and prosecution for entering into Farragut
Parks or Greenways with otherwise lawfully carried defensive firearms.

Therefore, we petition you to rescind the ban on lawfully carried firearms in Farragut Parks and
Greenways with all possible haste.


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http://www.townoffarragut.org/DocumentCenter/View/498
This document created by Liston Matthews 865-316-6486