Tennessee’s House Civil Justice Subcommittee voted on February 14, 2018, to kill a bill by Sen. Paul Bailey and Rep. Judd Matheny which would allow “the holder of a valid handgun permit to carry firearms at all times and places within Tennessee unless the permit holder is consuming an alcoholic beverage, is under the influence of a controlled substance, is attending a judicial proceeding, or is on school grounds and has not notified school administration.” See, SB1314/HB884 In essence, the bill would have allowed citizens who have received state handgun carry permits to carry in the same locations as off-duty law enforcement officers (who are by law simply civilians themselves. Video link for bill. The governor’s office sent a taxpayer funded lobbyist to oppose the bill. In addition, a group “Moms Demand Action” (which is reportedly affiliated with Mayor Michael Bloomberg) had numerous supporters in red t-shirts were present to oppose the bill.
UPDATE: A review of the bill voting history shows that not a single member of the committee voted for the bill. All committee members should be scored as a negative 2nd Amendment vote.
The House Civil Justice subcommittee has been a recurring problem over the last 8 years of Republican control of the General Assembly. The composition is largely if not entirely controlled by Speaker Beth Harwell who should carry the blame (in her race for governor) for this committee’s actions. At this time, the committee is comprised of Rep. Mike Carter (chair), Bill Beck, Glen Casada, Martin Daniel, Andrew Farmer, G. A. Hardaway and Debra Moody.
A second bill that was essentially killed, unless something unusual happens, by this same committee was the bill to exempt gun safes from state sales tax. See, SB2476/HB2183. The subcommittee placed this bill “behind the budget”.
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