Joel Ebert

USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee

A series of gun bills that would expand the places where valid permit holders can carry their weapons were the center of attention during a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting held Tuesday.

Although the committee deferred action on three gun bills that have drawn both support and ire, the day’s action was the first time lawmakers held a lengthy discussion on the topic.

The first bill, sponsored by Sen. Dolores Gresham, R-Somerville, seeks to allow any valid handgun permit holder the ability to sue a person or business in the event that the gun holder was injured or killed by “invitees, trespassers, employees of the person or entity, vicious animals, wild animals and defensible man-made and natural hazards” while in a gun-free zone.

Bill allows suits over gun-free zone incidents

Gresham invited John Lott, a Fox News columnist, to talk about her bill, as well as two others sponsored by Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville.

One of Bell’s bills would require private schools to create a handgun permit policy that either permits or prohibits a person with a valid handgun permit from carrying his weapon on the grounds or inside a building of the school.

Bill would allow private schools to allow guns on campus

His second bill would allow full-time employees of state public colleges or universities the ability to carry a handgun on property owned, operated or used by colleges, provided they have a valid gun permit.

Bills would expand ability to bring guns on campus

Lott, whom Gresham called a “world recognized expert on guns and crime,” spent his time making several arguments, namely that by eliminating gun-free zones there would be less crime.

Attempting to prove his point, Lott cited a host of data.

“If you look at these mass public shootings, it’s hard to look at this data and not come away with seeing how consciously these killers pick areas where victims can’t defend themselves,” he said, adding that mass shooters generally seek venues that will give them significant media attention.

“Since 1950, with just two exceptions, all the mass public shootings in the United States have taken place where general citizens are banned from carrying concealed handguns,” he said.

Lott also argued that the rate of mass public shootings in Europe is similar to the rate in the United States. He elaborated: “France had more casualties from mass public shootings last year — 532 — than the United States has had during the entire Obama administration — 394.”

Lott did not explain what he defined as a mass shooting during his testimony.

Before Lott had even begun his comments, Sen. Lee Harris, D-Memphis, who sits on the Senate committee, questioned Lott’s qualifications.

"Lott's Crime Prevention Research Center may be masquerading as a policy shop but it appears to be just a small, two-man operation funded by Ted Nugent, who just yesterday went to Facebook with anti-Semitic claims of a Jewish conspiracy that doesn't exist,” Harris said in a written statement.

“The Stanford Law Review found that his central hypothesis of 'more guns, less crime' was entirely without statistical support," Harris said, noting that Lott's research contained coding errors that actually reversed his hypothesis.

While Lott was testifying, Harris questioned the premise that adding more guns would solve the issue of mass shooters. "I’m just afraid of taking your tactic to address mass shootings because I’m afraid that leads me to the counterintuitive result, which is more mass shootings,” he said.

Beyond Harris, Lott’s arguments were called into question by Kathleen Wright, a volunteer with the Tennessee chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, after the meeting adjourned.

“Based on FBI data from January 2009 to 2013, there were 133 mass shootings — which the FBI indicates is a deadly shooting of four or more people — 71 percent of those shootings in private residences,” she said. “Only 13 percent of these mass shootings took place in what they call a gun-free zone.

"They are trying to introduce guns into extremely sensitive places where they should not be,” she said, vowing to continue to fight against the various gun bills.

“Schools are not the place for people to have guns,” she concluded.

All three of the gun bills were delayed for two weeks, as Bell and Gresham said they wanted more time to work on the legislation.

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