Gun safety stressed as new law takes effect

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - The 1st of July marked the start of a handful of new laws in Tennessee.

One gaining nationwide attention is the Constitutional Carry or Permitless Carry law.

The bill no longer requires gun purchasers to take a course to open or conceal carry a handgun.

”It’s, I mean it is absolutely dangerous not to have at least a fundamental knowledge, I mean absolutely dangerous,” said Matt Estridge lead instructor at Tier One Tactics.

Estridge is versed in counterterrorism.

He along with his wife run Tier One Tactics offering a 90-minute course online for just $19.90.

”I like civilians to know self-defense law, how do you handle the gun, how do you store the gun safely because you don’t want you kids to get a hold of it, how do you transfer it across state lines, who has reciprocity because that can get you in some trouble,” said Estridge.

While neither agreeing nor disagreeing with the law, the worry for many firearms instructors is there is now no longer an incentive for people to be versed in firearm safety.

”If you just get to carry a gun without any knowledge, that’s just a bad move, it really is because there are just too many moving parts,” said Estridge.

The hope is that while the law no longer requires the training, people will seek out the training nonetheless to be able to protect themselves, and those around them.

”To be able to handle, manipulate, and utilize you want to be able to understand at the least the fundamentals of that and the safety of it and what you can and cant do,” said Estrige.

Since the bill was passed, Estridge and similar businesses like his have seen a nearly two-thirds drop in business.

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