We welcome your comments even though we disagree with them. Debate is one of the things that helped make our country great. You pose some interesting points that cannot all be dealt with in a comment, but we’ll try.

First, you’re right about “criminals”. They already have no respect for the law or our society and have made a choice to not abide by the rules. But is a bar (which was the focus of this post) the place to allow firearms? People go to bars to drink and socialize. I think we can both agree that drinking and firearms are a potentially deadly combination, just as drinking and driving is a potentially deadly combination. If a person, licensed or not, wants to shoot up a bar, they are going to. No potentially armed citizen is going to stop that from happening.

Second, there is actually a great deal of dissent as to whether an “armed citizenry” is indeed the greatest deterrent to criminal activity.

Third, if you and your family feel more comfortable carrying a firearm, and do so legally, there is no protest here. However, a concealed weapons permit is not a “magic bullet” that will truly protect you from crime.

As for the tax thing, we pay taxes with representation, unless you believe that your city, county, state and federal governments are not made up of people elected to represent you. They may not represent your personal views, but they are still responsible to you, the voter. Opposition to a constitutional amendment does not necessarily mean one is for the inverse of the amendment. The people have spoken, and income tax is not going to happen in Tennessee. Why waste $20,000 and a whole lot of time across two sessions of the legislature, not to mention the cost of placing it on the ballot to affirm what we already know?

Finally, unless comments are abusive, they will be published here. A terms of use document will be up later tonight detailing what is or is not allowed on the site.

Thanks for your comment.

Regarding your take on Kelsey’s state income tax ban legislation, I think we (Americans/Tennesseans)pay more than enough in taxes now without representation. Why you’re so eager to pay more in taxes astounds me. If you’re so keen on giving your money away, why don’t you do your civic duty and send it to me. I’ll do something worthwhile with it like donate it to Kelsey’s next election campaign.

By the way, if you’re not brave enough to post my comments on your website, I’ll be forwarding them to Mike Slater so at least his listenership can hear a reasonable perspective.