Council Could Allow Guns In Some Rural Parks

On Tuesday, Nashville’s City Council will consider a bill to nuance a ban on guns in Metro Parks. The measure would allow handgun carry permit holders to bring their weapons into certain rural parks.

This summer, Metro council voted to uphold its ban on guns in parks, despite a new state law that would permit them.

Now Councilman Sam Coleman says he’s working on a compromise. He says council members clearly don’t want weapons in urban parks where children play, and he’s not asking for that.

“I thought we should think about amending it to the extent that we can allow those permit holders to carry guns in the rural area parks, so what I asked the Metro director to do is describe those rural area parks, give us a list of them, and we put that into a bill.”

Coleman says it makes sense to allow guns in more isolated areas with less supervision, like Bells Bend. But he notes guns can’t be allowed on greenways because of lease agreements that ban weapons.

Hear a conversation with Coleman after the measure passed its first of three readings November 17, 2009:

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As of November 25, 2009, the list of parks included in the bill on Tuesday’s agenda was:

1. Alvin Beaman Park (park and greenway)
4111 Little Marrowbone Road
1,596 acres

2. Bells Bend Park (park and greenway)
4107 Old Hickory Boulevard
808 acres

3. Cane Ridge Park
419 Battle Road
280 acres

4. Couch Tract (to be a park and greenway)
13591 Old Hickory Boulevard
40 acres

5. Cecil Rhea Crawford Park
6043 Cane Ridge Road
7 acres

6. Hamilton Creek Park
2901 Bell Road
790 acres

7. Morgan Road Property (former Tennessee Youth Center)
3000 Morgan Road
98 acres

8. Peeler Park (park and greenway)
2043 Neelys Bend Road
662 acres

9. Vulcano Tract (to be park and greenway)
6006 Culbertson Road
70 acres