The Tennessee Legislature has clearly been working to address 2nd Amendment issues this year. Many Tennessee Legislators are focused on these issues because they are hearing from their constituents that their constituents have these issues are priorities on their minds – particularly with the federal government now under the control of the Biden-Harris administration and the violence and turmoil of the last few years that originated with the progressive left.
Your job as an informed citizen advocate is to do what you can to encourage all elected officials to put an increased focus on removing the infringements on the individual rights that the 2nd Amendment protects from government infringement.
The attention of some Legislators to these issues was exhibited this week as an important deadline in the Legislature passed the filing of new bills – February 11, 2021. There are 28 new bills which were filed this week that TFA has added to its list for tracking. Detailed reports on those bills are found in the bill report that is linked below.
In addition, five (5) of the bills that we are tracking are scheduled to be heard in various legislative committees next week. Details on those bills, the dates and times of the committee hearings, the committee members, and other information are in the calendar report that is linked below.
We are not going to do a full review on each bill at this time because we believe that several of them are “caption” bills. A caption bill is one which is filed as a placeholder in order to open up a particular section or part of the existing statutory code but the content of the bill is not the intended actual purpose of the bill. The real purpose likely is in some planned amendment which has yet to be filed.
There are several bills in these 28 new ones which are worth noting and calling your legislators to support or oppose.
SB765/HB786 appears to be the same bill that was filed last year as the Governor’s bill. It is likely one of the bills that will require heightened attention because it already has the governor’s support. It has many provisions to increase penalties on the criminal use of a firearm but it also has language that addresses permitless carry by some civilians. This bill could easily be adjusted to implement full constitutional carry of any firearms by anyone who can legally possess the firearm. Approximately seventeen other states already have this kind of law and at least two more are moving quickly this year to change their laws to that format.
SB935/HB1273 seeks to impose criminal sanctions on people who leave firearms unattended in certain vehicles – which might even include RVs or houseboats. It is bad legislation that further victimizes a victim and should be opposed.
SB1040/HB1160 would make it illegal for individuals to engage in the “casual sale” of firearms. It would require that all non-retail sales of firearms be conducted through a federally licensed dealer. It is a bad bill and must be opposed.
SB1041/HB1161 like SB1040/HB1160 would make it illegal for individuals to engage in the “casual sale” of firearms. It would require that all non-retail sales of firearms be conducted through a federally licensed dealer. It is a bad bill and must be opposed.
SB1333/HB899 is a bill that was pending in 2020 and we are glad to see it refiled in 2021. It would create a civil cause of action against a government entity that violates the individual rights that are protected by the Second Amendment.
It is important for Tennesseans to contact their legislators in person, by telephone and by written letter to either support or oppose these bills. If your legislators is not a member of the committees which are hearing these bills, you should still call your legislators and request that they speak with the committee members to voice support (or opposition) to the bills.
It is also appropriate for you to directly contact the committee members on the bills that they will be hearing. Some may not take your calls because you are not a “constituent” but the fact is when they are serving on committees they are representing all Tennesseans and not just those in their districts. If you need to look up the names, numbers or addresses of legislators you can use the legislature lookup tool.