On March 3, 2020, the Judiciary Committee of the Senate Judiciary moved forward on party lines to push an amendment that contained Governor Lee’s misnamed “constitutional carry” bill (SB2671/HB2817) toward the full Senate for a vote.
If any citizen was trying to find or review the bill before it was submitted for a vote, they would have seen the original, unamended language which had nothing to do with citizens’ rights to possess firearms. This is what the citizen would have seen if they looked at the bill as it existed even during the Senate debate:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 40-6-308(a), is amended by deleting the language “Within thirty (30) days” and substituting instead the language “Within forty-five (45) days”.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.
That is also how it was described in the Committee’s calendar agenda for the day.
Nowhere on the state website or in a public notice was the details of the actual “amendment 1” bearing drafting code “15802” disclosed or made available to the citizens. (it is linked below). Transparency?
During the discussion on the bill, Senator Kerry Roberts raised some questions to clarify the many restrictions on the bill such as it only applies to Tennessee residents and it only applies to those who meet all of the qualifications for getting the enhanced handgun permit in Tennessee. The sponsor confirmed these restrictions as being the Governor’s intent.
These confirmations also established that this is not a “constitutional carry” bill since it precludes 100’s of millions of people in this country who have rights existing and protected by the 2nd Amendment but whose rights Governor Lee chooses to infringe if they are in Tennessee. The confirmations also establish TFA’s concerns that individuals who can legally own, possess and purchase handguns in Tennessee will not be able to carry under this proposal unless they also meet all the heightened qualifications for the enhanced handgun permit. Finally, the sponsor confirmed that those who are eligible to carry under this proposed “permitless carry” bill will not be able to do so legally in places like public parks and greenways unless they pay the state a fee and get a state issued handgun permit.
Be clear, this is not a good bill if you are seeking true constitutional carry. Why? Because that is not what this bill even remotely attempts to do. What this bill does is create a set of conditions and qualifications that a person can rely on to defeat or avoid a criminal charge of illegally carrying or possessing a handgun.
TFA does want to make note and highly commend Chairman Mike Bell on a comment he made about 1 hour into the hearing. At that point, Chairman Bell commented that law enforcement has opposed every effort to reduce restrictions on citizens being able to carry guns since the handgun permit laws were first enacted 25 years ago. Its largely true and has been an issue raised by TFA now for years. Why do these taxpayer funded employees, show up in official uniforms, often with badges and carrying guns to tell legislators that it is bad public policy to do what the Second Amendment requires? Further, when they do so in their “official capacities” at what point does that constitute the crime of “official oppression” if ever?