"Some" CCW holders are .....criminals

August 16, 2009
Tennessee law lets thugs pack heat
A violent past doesn't necessarily prevent a Tennessean from getting a gun permit.
By Brad Schrade THE TENNESSEAN
Some might question the wisdom of allowing Carlos Antwan Fletcher to carry a loaded handgun in public. He has a lengthy criminal arrest history, including being involved in a violent attack that sent a Metro Police officer to the hospital, a separate aggravated assault charge and various drug and gun arrests.
Yet, the state has said it's OK for the 28-year-old Nashville resident to carry a gun. And, in fact, lawmakers expanded his rights this year to legally carry a gun into restaurants and parks.
http://www.tennessean.com/article/20090816/NEWS0201/908160369/1009/NEWS01/Tennessee+law+lets+thugs+pack+heat

And would apply to any state that allows plea-bargaining, or might dismiss charges for (X) reason.

It sucks, but the bar is Felony(TM), and nothing else disqualifies.


Each state has different bars for it. Here in Washington your 5th DUI is a felony. I imagine many people get way WAY over 5 before they finally get pegged with that Felony.

The problem lies with a criminal justice system that apparently should have made a more concerted effort to nail certain people on felony charges, instead of allowing them to plead down to misdemeanors or dropping the charges all together.

I do note the article makes a lot of people having extensive arrest records. Frankly, given that there is such a thing as a "wrongful arrest," the fact that someone has been arrested, even repeatedly, is not of any legal significance if there was no ensuing conviction, and that is the way it should be.

I don't much hold with mandatory sentencing laws, but if I were appointed Dictator For A Day, I would definitely put a law on the books that prohibited any felony charge involving a firearm to be pleaded down to a misdemeanor. A lesser felony, okay, since that would still prohibit the convict from legally possessing firearms, but no misdemeanor pleas.

I do note, Russ, that you conveniently omitted the next line from the article from your excerpt:

Sounds to me like the author didn't like that fact (as he acknowledges it to be), but he is honest enough to mention it. Unlike you, Russ.

of kids that got busted with too much bud on them. Corrections Corporation of America can't make money on a real felon, it's too expensive to keep him so he gets kicked back out on the street with a plea deal.

Better add this: :sarcasm:

Murderers and drug traffickers are just as entitled to the tools of self-defence as anybody else ... and probably need them more.

Tennessee's laws just don't trump Nature's!

they simply go on what the state gives them; ie does he have a felony or not? If the state chooses to reduce a charge to a misdemeanor (as appears to be the case) then technically he isn't a felon and is not disqualified.

The justice system screwed up.

For instance when OJ got off for murder if he had no prior felonies he could have acquired a CCW (although knives are more his thing). Even though he is clearly a murderer. Simply because the courts dropped the ball on that one. Doesn't mean theres a problem with CCW, merely with the our court system.

Generally a higher percentage than CCW holders.

than CCW holders, and more likely to avoid penalties when they screw up.

And yet some people believe they are the only legitimate gun owners in the country (well and the military of course, they've never abused their power before). Madness.

And that's the way it should be.

after they are licensed to carry. Most of those have stopped keeping such records because the numbers are too small to be of any siginifcance.
This is according to FBI reports over the last few years.

The county in which I live - an overwhelmingly Democratic county in Eastern Pennsylvania - had over 25,000 persons holding a License to Carry a Firearm, the state-wide license accepted in 26 other states as well. I have held one for 15 years, will renew for another 5 years in a few weeks.
The idea that we are all criminals is idiotic, something I would expect from the rabid antis.

mark