No WhiteWash!

Authorities say a bullet from a gun that was accidentally dropped injured a Tampa woman sitting in a bathroom stall.

via Florida Woman Shot in Leg by Bathroom Stall Neighbor – Local News | News Articles | National News | US News – FOXNews.com.

Add Bristol to the list of Tennessee cities rushing to keep their residents from carrying handguns in public parks.

Bristol’s City Council is expected to vote Tuesday on a resolution banning residents from possessing handguns in the municipal parks.

Read more via Bristol City Council Expected To Vote On Banning Guns In Parks | TriCities.

Guns In America

State-by-state gun laws and death rates, maps of recent school and workplace shootings and facts on who’s at risk.

The Tennessee House of Representatives voted on HB 0962 which will allow a person with a handgun carry permit to take their gun to restaurants that serve alcoholic beverages.

Below are the representatives who voted for and against this bill.

In the future, I think I may avoid eating out and instead stay at home to eat. See Many Recent Shooters Had Legal Gun Permits

HB0962 by Todd – FLOOR VOTE: AS AMENDED PASSAGE ON THIRD CONSIDERATION 4/6/2009
Passed
          Ayes………………………………………..70
          Noes………………………………………..26
          Representatives voting aye were: Barker, Bass, Bell, Borchert, Brooks H, Brooks K, Campfield, Carr, Casada, Cobb C, Cobb T, Coleman, Coley, Curtiss, Dean, Dennis, Dunn, Eldridge, Evans, Faulkner, Ferguson, Fincher, Floyd, Ford, Fraley, Hackworth, Halford, Harrison, Hawk, Haynes, Hensley, Hill, Johnson C, Johnson P, Kelsey, Litz, Lollar, Lundberg, Lynn, Maddox, Maggart, Matheny, Matlock, McCord, McCormick, McDaniel, McDonald, McManus, Montgomery, Moore, Mumpower, Niceley, Odom, Ramsey, Rich, Roach, Rowland, Sargent, Shepard, Shipley, Swafford, Tidwell, Tindell, Todd, Watson, Weaver, Windle, Winningham, Yokley, Mr. Speaker Williams — 70.
          Representatives voting no were: Armstrong, Bone, Brown, Camper, Cobb J, Cooper, DeBerry J, DeBerry L, Favors, Gilmore, Hardaway, Harmon, Harwell, Jones S, Jones U, Kernell, Miller, Naifeh, Pitts, Richardson, Shaw, Sontany, Stewart, Towns, Turner L, Turner M — 26.

According to the SportsOneSource, a research firm that tracks the sports goods industry, firearms sales in large retail outlets are up 39% this year. Shops across the country are reporting ammunition shortages since stores can’t meet demand for bullets. Data from the FBI’s National Instant Criminal Background Check System, which the industry uses as a proxy for overall firearms sales, is also revealing. From November 2008 through March 2009, FBI background checks, which are required every time a federally licensed gun dealer makes a sale, rose 29.3% over the same period a year ago. In November alone checks jumped 42%, to 1,529,635, the largest monthly total in the decade the system has been in place. “Consumer demand is unprecedented,” says Larry Keane, general counsel for the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a trade association for the firearms and ammunition industry.

Read more via Boom in Gun Sales Fueled by Politics and the Economy – TIME.

Licensed to kill? Nearly every gunman in recent mass shootings had weapons permits

They had more in common than unleashing carnage — nearly every gunman in this monthlong series of mass killings was legally entitled to fire his weapons.

So what does that say about the state of gun control laws in this country? One thing appears certain: the regulations aren’t getting stricter. Many recent efforts to change weapons laws have been about easing them.

Read more via Many Recent Shooters Had Legal Gun Permits – ABC News.

In Session blog has the scoop on gun permits held by Tennessee lawmakers.

See also East TN Handgun Carry Permits

Per the Handgun Carry Permits database are the number of permits for the selected cities below.  Knoxville had 11,244 permits