In 2020, Governor Bill Lee announced that he was going to file a “constitutional carry bill” in the Legislature. At the time, he stated “The Second Amendment is clear and concise and secures the freedoms of law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms, … I am pleased to announce Constitutional Carry legislation today that will protect the Second Amendment rights of Tennesseans.” That bill was filed weeks later in 2020 and it was immediately clear that it was not real constitutional carry. Instead, it imposed limits on the rights of citizens to carry firearms by generally limiting the right to a) Tennessee residents b) who were at least 21 years old and c) it was limited only to handguns. That bill failed to pass in 2020 perhaps due to Covid.
Governor Lee refiled his bill in 2021 as Senate Bill 765 (House Bill 786). It is one of 3 bills on this issue this year. It is not the most “constitutionally” compliant bill.
As noted in prior reports, which are available on TFA’s News page, the Governor’s bill falls short of real constitutional carry. It is limited generally to those 21 and up and it prohibits carrying any firearms other than those that meet the statutory definition of a handgun under Tennessee law (not all handguns are “handguns” under Tennessee law).
The Governor’s bill has been pushed rapidly through the Legislature. It was heard on the Senate Floor on March 18, 2021. Not a single amendment was offered to improve the bill so that a) it would apply to anyone who could legally possess a firearm (or even those who could legally possess a handgun) or b) so that it would apply to all firearms as opposed to handguns.
Senator Kerry Roberts was one of several Senators who spoke in favor of the bill. As shown below, he made it quite clear that in his mind this bill was not real constitutional carry. He described it as a step in the right direction but also a step that would require the Legislature to come back perhaps again and again to finish the work of restoring to the people the rights protected by the 2nd Amendment and eliminating Tennessee’s government imposed infringements. Legislation failing to restore fully those rights is legislation that preserves unconstitutional infringements. He said he would vote for the Governor’s bill nevertheless because it as a step in the right direction.
TFA agrees with the observations of Senator Kerry Roberts on the floor as well as statements from other legislators (addressed in prior posts) which describe the Governor’s bill as an incremental, “kicking the ball down the field”, permitless carry bill. It does, if it becomes law as is, eliminate the need for a handgun permit for some Tennesseans. The legislation leaves infringements on many Tennesseans who can otherwise legally possess handguns and it adds a few new infringements that do not exist in the 1968 Gun Control Act. Further, while the 2nd Amendment prohibits infringements on all “arms”, this legislation only “allows” Tennesseans an exception to the criminal charge if they are possessing a handguns and then only for those handguns which meet the Tennessee statutory definition.
In sum, while the Senate bill certainly moves some ball further down the field, it also stops significantly short of scoring a touchdown that restores fully the rights protected by the Second Amendment. As Senator Roberts states, the Legislature is going to have to come back again and perhaps again for an unknown number of years to pass yet more legislation that will at some future date actually implements real constitutional carry.
When the vote was taken, three Republican Senators voted against the bill – Richard Briggs, Brian Kelsey and Becky Massey. One Republican Senator did not vote – Ferrell Haile. It is important that you remember those names, contact them your comments and consider whether you could support or would oppose them in any future campaigns.
It is time to increase the calls, letters and other contacts to your House members and to Speaker Cameron Sexton. You can look up their names and numbers on the Legislature’s website.
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