On Tuesday, March 8, the Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hear Senate Bill 1483, sponsored by state Senate Senator Mark Green (R-22).

On Wednesday, March 9, the House Civil Justice Subcommittee is scheduled to hear SB 1483’s companion bill, House Bill 1748, sponsored by state Representative Judd Matheny (R-47).

SB 1483 /HB 1748 would allow anyone who is 21 years of age or older who is not prohibited by law from possessing a handgun, to carry a handgun without a permit. This important legislation would allow law-abiding gun owners the ability to better protect themselves and their loved ones, and to choose the best method of carrying for them, based on their attire, gender and/or physical attributes.

Please contact members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and politely urge them to support Senate Bill 1483 when it comes up for a vote. Please also contact members of the House Civil Justice Subcommittee and politely urge them to support House Bill 1748 when it comes up for a vote.

Clockwise starting at topleft: Glock G22, Glock G21, Kimber Custom Raptor, Dan Wesson Commander, Smith & Wesson Air Weight .357, Ruger Blackhawk .357, Ruger SP101, Sig Sauer P220 Combat.

NASHVILLE, March 4, 2016—On Friday, Tennessee State Rep. Andy Holt (R-Dresden) announced that he will be asking the Attorney General to step in and deliver an opinion on the practice of using traffic cameras to enforce citations.

“This practice is so predatory it’s not even funny,” said Holt. “City officials and lawmakers know these companies are violating the law, but the almighty dollar speaks louder than the rights of Tennesseans.”

At question is a specific part of Tennessee State law that mandates “only POST-certified or state commissioned law enforcement officers shall be authorized to review video evidence from a traffic light signal monitoring system and make a determination as to whether or not a violation has occurred” (TCA 55-8-198 B(1)). However, Holt says that’s not happening. Even though state law mandates that no one other than law enforcement may view the video evidence and determine whether or not a violation has occurred, traffic camera companies view the video footage and determine whether or not a violation has occurred well in advance of law enforcement. The companies then send the scrubbed footage back to law enforcement after they have deleted all the instances of violations where they feel the law had not been violate. Police then view this footage a second time to confirm.

“Since when do non-certified, out-of-state (and sometimes out-of-country) employees have the legal authority to determine whether or not the law was violated,” commented Holt. “That would be like you or I saying, ‘Well, I don’t think I ran the red light, so I’m just going to delete the evidence and not send it to police.’ How many times do these employees mess up? When were they given legal jurisdiction over the people of Tennessee?”

Holt said that the companies readily admit to violating this law in their own marketing material.

“Their own commercials say that their employees review the footage to determine whether or not a violation has occurred before sending the footage back to police.”

Holt says that he has spoken with many legal experts, and they all agree that the practice clearly violates state law. If Attorney General Slatery opines correctly, millions of dollars in automated traffic violations could have to be paid back to Tennesseans.

“The letter of the law is quite plain and simple. It doesn’t say ‘a traffic camera company can determine whether or not the law was broken, then forward it to local police to verify.’ It says definitively, ONLY POST-certified or state commissioned law enforcement officers have the legal authority to view this footage and determine whether or not the law was broken. Therefore, they are actually breaking the law twice. Once by even viewing the footage and again by determining whether or not the law was broken before sending it to police for verification.”

VIEW HERE FOR TRAFFIC CAMERA COMPANY MARKETING MATERIAL (this is one of the largest vendors in Tennessee):

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Feb. 25, 2016— Tennessee State Rep. Jeremy Durham (R-Franklin) has introduced five pieces of legislation aimed at strengthening Tennessee’s stance on illegal immigration. The bills, each targeting specific areas of immigration policy, are intended to close enforcement loopholes.
“We’re seeing many adverse effects resulting from illegal immigration in the State of Tennessee, and something has to be done about it. While Tennessee is forced to deal with  the costs associated with illegal immigration, the federal government chooses to stand on the sidelines, purposefully ignoring existing legislation on these matters,” said Durham. “Individuals who have entered this country illegally or have overstayed their visas are draining state and local resources with impunity. This abuse has taken resources away from people that actually need help, taken jobs from hard working people, and is a massive burden to Tennessee tax-payers. This package of legislation will strengthen our ability to hold these people, as well as those who choose to employ them, accountable.”
Durham’s legislation seeks to change or strengthen the law in five ways:
1.)  Prohibiting local governments who interfere with federal law pertaining to immigration from receiving Department of economic and community development aid.
2.) Requiring the forfeiture of all state funding by any public institution of higher education who classifies a student who is not a United States citizen as a Tennessee resident.
3.) Increasing the penalties imposed on businesses who employ illegal immigrants.
4.)  Removing a current exemption from employment verification requirements for businesses employing fewer than six people.
5.)  Requiring the department of labor and workforce development to report total number of final orders associated with illegal immigrant employment to the general assembly.
State Senators Beavers (R-Mt. Juliet), Roberts (R-Springfield), Johnson (R-Franklin), and Stevens (R-Huntingdon) will carry the Senate versions of their respective bills.

Jeremy Durham – 65th District

Tennessee State Rep. Andy Holt (R-Dresden) has introduced legislation to outlaw publicly funded schools and universities from inquiring about firearm ownership in a student or employee’s home. The bill also seeks to close a loophole that allows schools and universities to collect firearm ownership data, so long as it is ‘voluntarily’ provided.

“Last year, a law was passed that outlawed this practice in k-12 schools, but did not apply to public universities,” said Holt. “The law also created a loophole that would allow schools to collect the information so long as it wasn’t mandatory that the information was given.”

Holt says the current loophole allows school systems to easily sidestep the law designed to keep schools from inquiring and collecting about firearm ownership.

“If a school wants to collect firearm ownership data, all they have to currently do is slip the paper in a student’s packet at the beginning of the school year. Most parents sign all their student’s papers without question because they believe it is mandatory for their children to remain in school. If the school was to ever be questioned on why they were collecting this data when it is ‘against the law’, all the school would have to do is say that the information was voluntarily provided and parents were not forced to fill out the paper. However, most parents wouldn’t know better seeing as how they have to fill out papers at the beginning of every school year.”

State Sen. Paul Bailey (R-Sparta) will carry the Senate version of the bill.

Rep. Andy Holt