The Governor’s “incremental” permitless carry bill (Senate Bill 765) is set to be heard on the Senate Floor on March 18. Of the three bills this year on permitless carry, it is one that is least compliant with the requirements of the Second Amendment and is the one which perpetuates the most infringements.
This bill is NOT real constitutional carry. It has been repeatedly described by legislators as only “kicking the ball” down the field or as an incremental step. The fact that some people may be “identifying” it as constitutional carry is not much different that calling Dr. Richard Levine “Rachel” – saying it is so does not change the facts. The fact is that it is only an incremental permitless carry bill and its one that perpetuates and ads infringements on the right of the people to keep and bear arms.
Specifically, the concerns with it by those who seek REAL constitutional carry are that
1) It does not apply to everyone who can legally possess a firearm. The Second Amendment has no age limit when it references “the people”. Falling far short of the Second Amendment’s scope, the Governor’s bill only applies to those who are at least 21.
2) The Governor’s bill creates an exception for a class of individuals who are 18-20 years old and who are in or honorable retired from the military. Since this legislation addresses a fundamental individual right, the decision to treat one class of citizens differently than another raises a likely equal protection problem.
3) The Second amendment prohibits government infringements of “arms”. The Governor’s bill perpetuates the infringement on the right of the people to carry longarms. It only creates an exception for handguns.
4) The Governor’s bill has a curious provision, which is likely some form of trap, that conditions the exception to a criminal charge only for those who are “in a place where the person is lawfully present.”
5) The Governor’s bill further restricts at least two classes of individuals, such as those with certain DUI convictions, which individuals are not prohibited by state or federal law form possessing firearms.
6) The Governor’s bill appears to enact a lifetime ban on certain individuals who have a history of mental illness. To the extent it does this it likely jeopardizes federal grants under the NICS Improvement Act of 2007-2008 which required states to enact laws to remove disabilities on those with certain prior mental health disqualifiers as a condition of receiving federal grants, which Tennessee enacted in 2015.
The point is that the Governor’s bill is NOT real constitutional carry. Some could argue its better than only having a permitting system but you could also argue that taking an incremental step, such as this, both fails us on the restoration of our rights and it likely delays significantly the Legislature’s willingness to come back and fix the problems it is creating by passing only an incremental step.
It is important that you call your state Senator today. Look their emails and numbers up on the state website.
Send them this message (in your own words) by phone, letter, fax and email:
1) I oppose the Governor’s “permitless carry” bill – Senate Bill 765 – and want you to vote against it unless it is amended.
2) I want it amended so that “any person who can legally own a firearm can carry that firearm”
3) I want the lifetime bans eliminated
4) I prefer either Senate Bill 318 or Senate Bill 1391 – both of them were filed a real constitutional carry and are much better bills.
5) I will be watching your actions on this bill and tell my family and friends that you either stood with me on the Second Amendment or that you ignored the Second Amendment and voted for a bill that imposes and perpetuates infringements on my rights.
Do not let them feed you a deflecting, appeasing rejection. They are elected to represent you – not to be the puppet of someone in leadership or some administrative agency. They are accountable to you under their oath to protect your rights and to do anything in their powers to remove infringements on your rights. Hold them accountable. Don’t be rude, but certainly be firm.
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