Joel Ebert

USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee

The Barrett M82 sniper rifle became Tennessee’s official state rifle on Wednesday after the Senate passed a resolution in support of the measure.

The weapon, manufactured in Christiana, just outside of Murfreesboro, joins a list of state symbols such as milk as the state’s official beverage, the mockingbird as the state bird and the raccoon as the state’s wild animal.

Several senators expressed support for the resolution during a floor discussion, but Sen. Jeff Yarbro, D-Nashville, the lone senator to vote against the measure, said he was concerned about the idea of having the state endorse the product of a private company.

“What we’re being asked today is to make a product … an officially endorsed product,” he said. “That is a little bit of a dangerous precedent for us to take on.”

Designating M82 as official state rifle is bad idea

Yarbro pointed out that if Jack Daniel’s or George Dickel asked to be the official state whiskey or if MoonPies requested to be the official state dessert, “anarchy might reign.”

Proponents of the resolution argued it was simply honoring a company that created a product that has had a major impact over the past 30 years.

Last year, the House passed the measure by a vote of 74-9.

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Reach Joel Ebert at 615-259-8379 and on Twitter @joelebert29.