Tennessean article link below:

http://www.tennessean...

This guy sounds certifiable. Amazing people like this are able to legally brandish firearms. Sooner or later this guy will wave his gun at the wrong person...probably a person just like him. Maybe they will do us all a favor and shoot eachother.

I am surprised he was not charged with a crime for modifying his weapon to look like a toy gun. All toy guns have the orange tip and he painted the tip of the AK specifically to make it look like a toy (as reported in another article).

today's update

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- You may not know Leonard Embody's name, but you might know his recent troubles with the law and guns.

Related: Images

"I'm a private person," Embody said. "I didn't want to be in the spotlight. I didn't want my name in the news reports."

Embody's name and story have been appeared in news reports and online blogs for months. He was thrust into the media spotlight last December when he carried an AK-47-type pistol into Radnor Lake State Park.

"It wasn't modified in any way except for a sling, and I had painted the tip orange on it," he said.

His gun-carry permit was current and the gun was legal, but park rangers stopped Embody and detained him for three hours. He was later released with no charges filed.

The next month, he made headlines again when he took his handgun on a walk down Belle Meade Boulevard, in full compliance with the law.

"The only way you can carry the handgun is to carry it openly in your hand," Embody said.

Once again, he was stopped, searched and released.

Since then, Embody has filed a federal lawsuit against the Radnor Lake State Park ranger. Friday, he received a certified letter from the Tennessee Department of Safety stating his gun carry permit was revoked.

"There was a material likelihood that I was a risk to the public," Embody said of the letter.

Embody doesn't consider himself an gun rights activist but said he strongly believes gun legislation is flawed, often outdated, vague or contradictory.

"I'd like to see that here in Tennessee we have the right to bear arms and that right shall not be infringed," he said.

Regardless of his thoughts on gun rights, his run-ins with authorities or the talk around town, Embody said he isn't trying to make a political statement.

"I always carry a gun. I usually carry open carry. I believe open carry is a deterrent to crime," he said.

Embody will appeal the decision to revoke his gun carry permit.

Attorneys on both sides of his lawsuit are scheduled to meet in April.

Previous Story:

* December 23, 2009: Man With Rifle Arrested At Radnor Lake State Park

This situation begs the question, "Why would any person other than a ranger be permitted to carry firearms in a nature sanctuary to begin with?"

Dave, as far as I know no lawmaker(s) in any locality other than New York City has yet passed a bill making it against the law to paint a real firearm to make it look like a toy, though proponents of such bills have been trying for a long time.

" A $1,000 fine or a year in jail will be imposed on anyone who buys, sells, or uses a gun colorization kit in New York City". Gun painting kit manufacturers are going beyond helping people merely add an orange tip to their guns. Here is a photo of Mayor Bloomberg holding a toy gun next to a real gun fully painted to look like a toy. I sure would not want to be a cop who had to make a split-second decision about whether that brightly colored gun-shaped object pointed at me or at someone else was real.

So, now some idiot decides to hang out at Radnor openly carrying a real altered but still long-barreled AK-47 (30-round magazine) with its tip painted orange as if it were a toy in order to alarm hikers, families out to enjoy the lake, and the rangers--then he sues the rangers for detaining him while they checked out the legality of his weapon and the validity of his permit. I love to hike Radnor, but it is creepy to know this unbalanced guy hikes it.

I also have to wonder--don't we have enough children accidentally shooting themselves and others without reckless fools deliberately painting real firearms look like toys? There *ought* to be a law here against that, but there is not.

Sylvia,

Hi, I am new to the group and just reading up on this. I agree with most of what you had to say. I have a few thoughts of my own.

You do not need a special kit to paint a gun. Any heat resistant paint will work. It is unrealistic to ban all heat resistant paint, so I am not sure what to do about that.

Additionally, I have little faith that passing a law specifically banning guns in parks or nature preserves would have kept this idiot from doing what he did. I don't think he ever intended to cause harm, but he is clearly an a-hole who was out to prove a point or just an idiot.

I am not surprised the Ranger reacted like he did either. It might have been different had the guy had a hangun in a holster but carrying it around in his hand is totally different.

I am a gun owner, but I can assure you I would not take a gun to Radnor in a million years. I guess it would be one thing Radnor was home to grizzly bears or something but even then I cannot see carrying it around in your hand.

This guy is a whack job, and I believe his lawsuit will fail because any reasonable person would have felt threatened by a guy walking around with a gun in his hand.

Thanks for your perspective on the issue.....

Rob