Guns in parks law creates confusion among lawmakers

Although Tennessee state legislators voted earlier this year to allow guns in all public parks, the law, which took effect Tuesday, has met some obstacles.

Mainly because 70 local governments have banned it.

That leaves questions about where park visitors can, or cannot, bring their guns.

Some park regulations, like Knoxville's Edgewood Park, are clear-cut.

"For at least the last 47 years, no guns have been allowed in any city park or recreation facility and that's still the case today," said Knoxville Vice Mayor Bob Becker.

Knoxville has had a public park gun ban since at least 1962. The new state law only affects local governments that did not have an ordinance prior to 1986.

However, figuring out where the gun ban applies in Knoxville can get trickier, because Knox County allows guns in parks, as it did not have an ordinance prior to 1986.

"There are alot of parks throughout our community and most people don't know the difference between a city and county park," said Knox County Parks and Recreation Senior Director Doug Bataille.

The Turkey Creek Greenway is a prime example. The path begins as Knoxville property -- no guns allowed -- but it runs through Knox County property, which allows guns. To make matters more confusing, the grenway eventually becomes Farragut land, which has a gun ban.

There are numerous other cases like it.

"I don't think we could sign that in a way that would be effective to let people know when you're on and off property. It would take hundreds of signs to do that," Bataille said.

Other issues include how to enforce the law when city or county property backs up to privately owned land, or when parks host public school athletic events.

"So, if you're allowed to bring guns into a park but not into a school event, how do we address that?" Bataille said.

Still, some lawmakers believe the policy works.

"I don't think this is that complicated an issue," Becker said.

Still, just like the laws themselves, opinions aren't uniform either.

"One of the concerns we have is having a policy that's the same across the community so park users know what to expect," Bataille said.

Knoxville City Council members and Knox County Commissioners are expected to again discuss the issue this month.