Head of Gun Advocacy Group Not Registered to Lobby

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Head of Gun Advocacy Group not Registered to Lobby Eds: UPDATES thruout with reax, maximum fine. By ERIK SCHELZIG Associated Press Writer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WHBQ FOX13 myfoxmemphis.com) -- Tennessee Firearms Association head John Harris, a driving force behind a slew of gun bills in the Legislature this year, is not registered as a lobbyist.

Harris has testified to committees, spoken with lawmakers and called on supporters to make their voices heard on measures including allowing handguns in bars and parks.

His registration status came to a surprise to several lawmakers.

"He's lobbied me before, and he has sent me position papers," said Senate Minority Leader Jim Kyle, D-Memphis. "Mr. Harris is perceived on Capitol Hill no differently than any of the other contract lobbyists."

The House was expected to take up a proposal Wednesday to override Gov. Phil Bredesen's veto of the bill allowing guns where alcohol is served.

A membership flier on the gun group's Web site says its mission includes "to lobby for laws and regulations that ensure the continued preservation of our rights and to oppose those proposed laws which would restrict your rights."

Harris said he is exempt from registering as a lobbyist because his primary responsibility is writing a newsletter for the association's membership, and because he doesn't initiate conversations with lawmakers.

"I can go over and listen all I want to, and that doesn't make me a lobbyist," he said. "I'm advocating to my members."

"I try to limit my activities over there to monitoring what they are doing, and writing reports," he said. "And showing up when I have a legislator call me and say we'd like you to be in the audience for purposes of testifying."

Bredesen criticized Harris and his group this week for sending out a call to supporters to publicly identify the names and employment details of police officers and prosecutors who stood behind the governor when he signed his veto.

"It just smacks of intimidation and all sorts of things which I think are not American," Bredesen told reporters earlier this week. "I think they should stop doing it."

Ethics Commission attorney David Himmelreich said he wasn't familiar with the details of Harris' activities at Legislative Plaza, but added that it would be up to the six-member panel to decide whether they constitute lobbying.

Nobody has filed a complaint about Harris with the commission. The maximum penalty the Ethics Commission can mete out is a $10,000 fine.

Registering as a lobbyist would require the gun group to file disclosure forms on how much it spends, and would place Harris under a ban on gifts of campaign contributions to lawmakers.

Harris said he is a volunteer, and doesn't want to pay the fees for registering as a lobbyist.

"I'm not paid to do what I do," he said. "And it's $1,000 out of my pocket to register."

The actual fees for lobbyist registration and training are $190 per year. Employers of lobbyists must pay a $150 annual fee.

The association collects membership fees, and counts several lawmakers among its paying members.

One of those members, Democratic Rep. Henry Fincher of Cookeville, said he wasn't aware Harris hadn't registered to lobby.

"I find that interesting, but I know John's a very good attorney, and I'm sure he has cleared it and is following the law," Fincher said.

House Republican Caucus Chairman Glen Casada was also surprised that Harris wasn't registered to lobby.

"I assumed he was, because he is active," said Casada of Franklin. "But if he's complying with what he should be as a citizen, then I just don't have anything to criticize."

Republican Rep. Curry Todd, sponsor of the bill to allow handgun permit holders to carry their weapons into bars and restaurants where alcohol is served, said he wasn't influenced by Harris' group.

"He's never been to my office," Todd said.

Dick Williams of Common Cause, a group that advocates for stronger ethics and open government, said exemptions for volunteer lobbyists were designed for people who only occasionally visit the Legislature.

"With so many gun bills up here, they have every right to be here," he said. "But if they have somebody here virtually every day, and especially if he sort of encourages to be asked to comment, then that clearly approaches the line if it doesn't cross it."

Harris said his close contacts with lawmakers date back to his days as local legal adviser to the National Rifle Association and as an attorney representing gun dealers and people involved in shootings.

"Those legislators have known me, a lot of them for 15 years, and they ask me my opinion," he said.

Harris said he registered as a lobbyist for the Tennessee Firearms Association until about three years ago.

The association's membership flier says its legislative program aims to "work with legislators to minimize misinformation, bad legislation and to remove bad laws."

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)