Lua - merge tables?

for k,v in pairs(second_table) do first_table[k] = v end

Here's what i came up with based on Doug Currie's answer:

function tableMerge(t1, t2)
    for k,v in pairs(t2) do
        if type(v) == "table" then
            if type(t1[k] or false) == "table" then
                tableMerge(t1[k] or {}, t2[k] or {})
            else
                t1[k] = v
            end
        else
            t1[k] = v
        end
    end
    return t1
end

Wouldn't this work properly?

function merge(t1, t2)
    for k, v in pairs(t2) do
        if (type(v) == "table") and (type(t1[k] or false) == "table") then
            merge(t1[k], t2[k])
        else
            t1[k] = v
        end
    end
    return t1
end