Statement from the Tennessee Firearms Association ; May 7, 2012:  News Reports Indicating Tennessee Republican Legislature being “Big Business” First Confirms Concerns of TFA As news reports start to surface that the Tennessee Republican controlled Legislature passes legislation that is oriented toward big business and passed little if any laws to restore or strengthen the constitutional rights of citizens, we see confirmation of what TFA has been concerned with for the last 2 years.  The Republican leadership in the General Assembly has taken constitutional issues and core constitutional interest groups for granted and is instead pandering to Big Business primarily for money. Why money?  Several reasons.  First, big businesses cannot vote.  They can however “invest” money in campaigns and into the businesses of legislators (for those who have careers or jobs).  Small business owners can vote but they do not have a lot of “political” money  or slush funds. Second, when legislators pass legislation that companies like FedEx, AT&T, Bridgestone, Nissan, Volkswagon and Amazon demand, then the legislators claim that the legislation is about “jobs, jobs, jobs” which is code talk for pro-Big Business and cheap labor.  Almost none of the “business” legislation helps small businesses, family farms or people who work for themselves or small family businesses.