With 67 aye votes, the Senate approved by a wide margin yesterday an amendment to the credit card bill that will restore concealed carry rights in national parks. You might remember that the Bush administration issued an 11th hour order allowing persons with concealed carry permits to carry in national parks, which have traditionally been firearms-free. A federal judge earlier this year issued an injunction to halt concealed carry in the parks pending a lawsuit by the Brady campaign and other plaintiffs.

Anyway, it seems that Tennessee’s Lamar Alexander voted against the amendment.

UPDATE: Michael Silence points out that Alexander was the only Senate Republican to vote against the measure, and obtains a statement from Alexander’s office:

I have consistently been a strong supporter of Second Amendment rights, but this legislation goes too far – further than President Reagan, further than President Bush, and further than Tennessee law.

Meanwhile, as Tennessee lawmakers wait to see whether Gov. Phil Bredesen will sign a bill allowing handgun carry permit holders to carry in restaurants and bars that serve food, from SayUncle comes the plea of a woman whose husband was recently murdered in a sports bar. He did not have a carry permit, but she did. She says if her gun had been on her person instead of locked in her car (as required by law), her husband might still be alive.