Tennessee’s Handgun Carry Permit Scheme Is A De facto Ban For Poor People. January 11, 2012

Posted by WhenTennesseePigsFly in Uncategorized

The other day I renewed my state issued Handgun Carry permit (HCP), the renewal cost me $50.00. But that made me stop and think about what it cost today to get a permit for the new applicant, because a friend of mine is in the middle of that process now…

People often say that TN is a gun friendly state.

That normally causes me to snort loudly, while spewing my coffee… or in a rare moment when I don’t have a coffee cup in my hands, just to bust out laughing at whomever said it. TN is far from anything, even remotely close to resembling, “a gun friendly state.”

But lets focus on the topic of my little rant. The state issued hand gun carry permit scheme and how this wonderful state has priced it (intentionally, I believe) out of reach of the poor, the working poor and the vast numbers of people who simply live paycheck to paycheck. And cannot afford to spend several hundred dollar on a piece of government issued plastic. Showing where you bowed down before the alter and laid offering at the feet of the almighty .gov, who graciously gave you state sanctioned permission to exercise one of your rights.

The state will tell you the permit costs $115.00, which that is mostly true, mostly… That’s how much you’ll have to fork over to the department of safety when you give them your application, BUT…

Before you get to this point, one must take a state required safety course, which on average costs about $75.00 and is 8 hours long… usually given on the weekends, occasionally on a Thursday or Friday at a few locations. Now if you’re like me you actually work for a living. And your job might require you to work those days… so now, you’ll have to take off a day from work without pay or burn a vacation day you otherwise wouldn’t have… so lets say you earn $10.00 per hour and you work 10 hours a day. That’s $100.00. Add that to the $75.00 for the course, plus the $115.00 to the state and were up to $290.00.

But wait, that’s not all!

The state requires a certified, state issued copy of your original birth certificate to accompany your application, which depending on what state you were born in can run you upwards of $50.00. For me it cost $25.00 so I’ll use that figure. Now were at $315.00, you have shelled out so you can exercise your God given, Constitutionally protected right. (void where prohibited, some restrictions may apply, of course…)

Now recall I used the rate of $10.00 an hour as your pay. Probably a close average pay rate for this state, but how many of you make much more than that?

Now you might as well also add in the box of ammo for your required shooting test (50 rounds) and any other cost too, like the gas you’ll waste running to and from the course, then to and from the DMV, to one of the approved locations to get your fingerprints taken, (they don’t do them there)… then back to the DMV to finally give them all this paperwork… and you better hope its all in order too!

We’re talking about the poor and working poor here so think about this from their standpoint. Here I have demonstrated the permit is well over $300.00 for something the Constitution says is your right. Just like free speech, and your rights to trial by jury and to be free from unwarranted searches.

But in “Gun Friendly” Tennessee that will cost you well over $300.00

If your poor, that could well be an entire months rent, or many, many days worth of groceries.

So, it is my opinion that the wonderful gun loving state of TN has intentionally priced its handgun carry permit out of the reach of a great number of its citizens. This is/was intentional, just as in your face as all those unconstitutional Jim Crow laws of yesteryear, this is no different. Its a Poll Tax plain and simple. One designed to keep a right, just out of reach of many in this state.

Many who, arguably need to carry a firearm for protection due to where they might live than any other group.

Think about that, when was the last time you heard of a mugging in the upper crust neighborhoods of the rich and shameless?

What about the lower income neighborhoods of Memphis, Nashville or Chattanooga?

The cost of the HCP in the state of Tennessee amounts to a De facto ban, effectively prohibiting poor people from obtaining a permit to carry a firearm for lawful self defense.

The gun owners in this state need to wake up, stop lying to themselves and think for once in their lives.

This state is NOT gun friendly.