The Messenger 09.09.09
The U.S. Constitution will be at the center of several events slated at the University of Tennessee at Martin during Constitution Week this month.
The UT Martin Institute for Civic Engagement will sponsor the programs for the week. The events are free and open to the public.
The observance will begin with a panel discussion on the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution beginning at 7 p.m. Monday in the Boling University Center Duncan Ballroom. The two panelists representing the National Rifle Association will be Glen Caroline and Kevin Teets. Representing the opposing side will be members of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, Paul Helmke and Adam Dread.
Caroline serves as director of the NRA-ILA Grassroots Division, where he develops and implements the political and legislative grassroots programs for the NRA. He has also served as a federal liaison for the NRA, for which he lobbied nine congressional delegations. He has been an employee of the NRA since 1991.
Teets is a 2006 graduate of UT Martin, where he studied political science, public relations and news editorial journalism. He has since completed his master’s degree in public administration and his juris doctorate from Drake University. Teets has worked for two years as a licensed student prosecutor at the Polk County Attorney’s Office in Iowa. He is a member of the National Rifle Association.
Since July 2006, Helmke has served as president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, the nation’s largest national, non-partisan, grassroots organization leading the fight to prevent gun violence. Prior to working with the Brady Campaign, he was a lawyer in Fort Wayne, Ind., where he served as mayor from 1988-2000.
Dread is a partner in the law firm Durham & Dread, PLC, in Nashville. He concentrates his practice in many areas, including restaurant and liquor issues. He has represented most Tennessee plaintiffs in the Menu Pet Food recall, as well as the plaintiffs in the internationally-covered “guns in bars” lawsuit.
The movie “Bowling for Columbine” will be shown from 4:30-7:30 p.m. Sept. 17 in Watkins Auditorium. After the movie, Student Government Association president Phillip Masengill and a panel of students will discuss the use of guns and violence that occur in the movie.
For more information, contact Dr. Mike McCullough, American Democracy Project director, at (731) 881-7325 or mcculou@utm.edu; or Dr. Heidi Huse, assistant professor of English, at (731) 881-7280 or hhuse@utm.edu.