Tennessee Atty-Gen Rules Landlords Can Ban Guns of Permit Holders

[norinco982lover]

Originally Posted by Carnivorous

That's the million dollar statement. "As long as it's not posted otherwise". If the possibility exists for the hotel to post a firearms ban, then the "right" to possess a firearm isn't absolute on private property.



You have the right to to use deadly force in self defense everywhere. Possession of the tool you use may or may not be legal, but the self defense aspect of it is fairly well settled. But that's a separate issue, so let's not conflate the two.

The main tension here is between the rights of property owners versus the rights of visitors to that property. Visitors have very few rights that aren't trumped by the property owner's right to do whatever they want on their property. Now, places of public accommodation (including both apartments and hotels) are prevented from discriminating between visitors, but there's no similar law with respect to firearms.




"Rights" in this context exist only with respect to the government. The Second Amendment only says that the Federal Government can't infringe on your right to keep and bear arms. It does NOT say that your firearm ownership can't be restricted by private individuals. Note that many employers prevent their employees from carrying guns at work; this is the exact same principle. The Bill of Rights does not apply to your interactions with private citizens.

Add to that, if you don't like the restriction, go somewhere else. An apartment lease or a hotel contract is a private contract. In a private contract, you can agree to forego any or all of your rights. (Example: if you sign a waiver to play in a sports league, you are contracting away your right to not be assaulted.)



That's not entirely true. You can legally be in a courthouse, a school, or an establishment that derives over 50% of its profits from the sale of alcohol, but you certainly can't carry a firearm there, and you can be made to leave the premises for having one.

Your statement regarding "dwellings" is a little broad. For Fourth Amendment purposes, someone's rights vis a vis a dwelling apply even when they're staying in someone's guest room. Is it your position that if a friend comes to stay at your house, you DON'T have the ability to tell him that he can't bring his gun? Whether you would or not isn't the question; I'm just surprised that you're OK with having so little control over your own home.

Let me clarify. The "posted per the law" applies ONLY to CCH holders concealing a weapon on their person. I would not hesitate in bringing in an unloaded weapon in my luggage and loading it and keeping it in my room for the night.