We got salad bars and .357s

East Tennessee is a lot like other regions in the South and anywhere in the USA that is more rural than urban. I’ve written about some of the logistical differences, but the cultural differences are more prevalent. I see it in the emails I receive, in my local newspapers, and whenever I encounter my neighbors.

I’m sure I’ll be writing quite a bit about this in the coming weeks and months, but I want to start with some thoughts on guns.

I grew up in Alabama, and we had plenty of guns in the house. My father enjoyed hunting, so we had quite a few rifles, but he also had pistols. They were all in a gun cabinet that was usually not locked.

I would not say there was a “culture” of guns in the house, however. Outside of hunting season or the occasional visit from a pistol aficionado, the firearms in our home were generally not discussed or even acknowledged.

This was, of course, in the 1970s. Before the rise of the NRA’s 2nd Amendment campaigns and Charlottesville Heston’s “cold dead hands” comments. Before school shootings were a near-weekly occurrence. It was a simpler time…

Today, I live in Maryville, Tennessee. It’s a town with significant historical significance. I was surprised to learn that Maryville was founded in 1795, nearly 100 before my previous city of Takoma Park, Maryland (on the border of Washington, D.C.) was incorporated, and a year before Tennessee became a state.

Sam Houston moved here with his family in 1808. A few years later he started a one-room schoolhouse, which still stands today.

Prior to and during the Civil War, Maryville was an abolitionist town in abolitionist Blount County. Only 19% of county residents voted to succeed from the Union.

After the War, Maryville elected the nation’s second Black mayor in 1869.

Today, Maryville is very different. There is not a large Black community here; there are more Hispanic residents than African Americans.

But I was surprised recently to learn about the town’s newest corporate resident: Smith & Wesson.

So, Maryville is going to become a gun town. At the ribbon-cutting for the company’s new facilities (in what was once the HQ for Maryville’s other corporate leader, Ruby Tuesday’s), the CEO said, “We feel truly welcome.”

He’s not wrong. The county passed a resolution in 2019 declaring this a “2nd Amendment Sanctuary,” whatever that means. And, in Tennessee, you don’t need a permit to carry a gun if you’re 18 or or older.

At the ribbon-cutting for the new HQ, Tennessee’s Lt. Gov. Randy McNally opened his suit jacket and gestured to a firearm holstered at his side, saying, “When I’m out, I always carry Mr. Smith & Wesson with me.” Good grief.

This is going to take some getting used to.

I don’t object to guns for hunting. But I, for one, am going to be a vocal advocate for restricting guns. Maybe I can help change Tennessee.