Regarding Knoxville's ban on guns in city parks, Knoxville Mayor and Tennessee Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Haslam said on Tuesday that the "intersection of greenways and gun-free zones such as schools would make repealing the ban impractical," and voiced his support for a City Council vote upholding the ban (KNS).

Facing a backlash from gun fetishists, Haslam backtracked yesterday, issuing issued a statement that he is not against guns in parks and was merely protecting gun owners from criminal charges because the existing ban carries only civil penalties for illegally carrying in city parks and opting out of the new state law would make it a criminal offense (KNS).

[UPDATE: Based on the video linked to in comments, Haslam expressed both of these views in his remarks to City Council, but the second part was not reported which is probably why he issued a statement. Perhaps the reporter was trying to save him some embarrassment and he should have taken the hint.]

Haslam had previously joined the Mayors Against Illegal Guns, but facing similar backlash from the same yahoos decided to resign from that group and join the NRA instead, just as he was announcing his bid for governor.

Apparently this is the kind of strong "leadership" Tennessee could expect from Haslam as governor. Regardless of their views on gun violence and proliferation v. the individual right to bear arms, most voters would respect taking a stand one way or another v. insulting their intelligence by pandering to both sides at the same time.

As it is, Haslam has managed to alienate two groups: a) vocal gun nuts, and b) intelligent voters. Perhaps Mayor Haslam's view is that there aren't that many of either in Tennessee.

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