Joey Garrison

jgarrison@tennessean.com

In a legal victory for Metro government, a Nashville judge Tuesday threw out a lawsuit waged by a longtime gun show operator at The Fairgrounds Nashville who has resisted new safety measures and whose events might be stopped at the fairgrounds as a result.

Davidson County Chancellor Carol McCoy, in a ruling from the bench, granted Metro’s motion to dismiss the case and denied the motion of plaintiff David Goodman of Bill Goodman’s Gun and Knife Shows for injunctive relief. Goodman had requested that the court order the Metro fair board to block off weekends next year when gun shows at the fairgrounds had previously been scheduled.

McCoy said that Goodman does not face immediate and irreparable harm to warrant an injunction and also lacked standing to bring the lawsuit because she said his rights had not been violated. Goodman, whose company has rented space at the fairgrounds for gun shows for more than 30 years, filed the lawsuit against Metro in April with a co-plaintiff, the Tennessee Firearms Association.

The ruling, which came after more than two hours of oral arguments, marked the first time a judge has weighed in on the Metro fair board’s controversial vote in December to halt future gun shows beginning next year unless new rules are in place for the events. McCoy found that the board was within its authority.

“I cannot find that there is a right to contract with Metro,” McCoy said. "You can try to contract with Metro. You can be the best business person in the world, but there is no right that the courts can enforce to require Metro to contract with that person or that entity.

“It may be that they decide to lease to Mr. Goodman. They may decide to lease to Mr. Goodman’s competitor. They may decide to lease to an entity that is not fully unknown at this point in time. But it’s not for the court to interfere with dictating to the fairgrounds and its board how those premises should be used through injunctive relief.”

Goodman’s attorney, Timothy Rudd, would not say whether he plans to appeal the decision.

“Obviously, we disagree with the ruling from the bench and we’ll access our options,” he said.

Rudd has argued that a Metro charter amendment that Nashville voters approved via public referendum in 2011 means that the fair board acted unlawfully when it voted to halt gun shows. The language says that activities that existed when the amendment was passed are to remain at the fairgrounds. Plaintiffs say gun shows must stay at the fairgrounds as a result.

Dismissing that interpretation as unrealistically narrow, Metro attorney Catherine Pham listed several events — weddings, roller derbies, for example — that took place at the fairgrounds in 2011, but haven’t since for a host of reasons.

In the end, McCoy delivered a blow to Goodman’s case by saying she has not identified a way to enforce the fairgrounds amendment.

McCoy also said the Tennessee Firearms Association lacks standing to be a participant in this case.

“They can be an active cheering party all they want, but they are not qualified to stand as a party litigant,” McCoy said.

On hand for Tuesday’s court hearing was fair board commissioner Kenny Byrd, who has been the fair board’s harshest critic of gun shows and Goodman’s gun shows, in particular. Also present in the gallery was Councilman Steve Glover, who has criticized the fair board for its vote.

“I think all the parties will have to examine what their next steps are,” Glover said in comments after the ruling. “We’ll proceed from there.”

Byrd called the ruling an “an important victory for Nashville taxpayers who do not want to fund the unregulated sale of weapons that too often injure and kill our citizens.

“Let’s be proud of taking common sense steps to avoid adding Nashville to the growing list of communities like Newtown and Orlando — communities that are crying out enough is enough.”

Reach Joey Garrison at 615-259-8236 and on Twitter @joeygarrison.