How many Tennessee statutes constitute federal civil rights violations?

Actually, a better question might be how many Tennessee Governors and Legislators are proposing, passing and refusing to repeal statutes that are federal civil rights violations. Let’s just say … too many.

In 2020, Governor Bill Lee announced that he was introducing “constitutional carry” legislation in the Tennessee Legislature. That legislation was introduced but obviously not by Bill Lee because, as Governor, he is not a member of the Legislature. The legislation was introduced in 2020 but because of Covid it really did not move forward until 2021.

In 2021, Rep. William Lambert and Sen. Jack Johnson filed HB0786/SB0765. That legislation, which Bill Lee and many Legislators mischaracterized as constitutional carry, ultimately became law on April 12, 2021. The law cannot in any manner be classified as real constitutional carry. The law is actually nothing more than a defense to a criminal charge of carrying a firearm with intent to go armed and the law only applies to certain gun owners, not all gun owners..

As a result of the way the 2021 law was written, some 18-20 year olds that were in the military or had certain discharges from the military were eligible to carry a handgun in Tennessee without a permit. That provision mirrored language in the existing statutes which allowed certain 18-20 year olds with similar military service to obtain handgun permits. The law also created new infringements on the rights protected by the Second Amendment for classes of individuals who can lawfully purchase and possess firearms. Thus, while the proponents claimed that it was “constitutional carry” it actually created a number of situations that clearly give rise to constitutional infringements.

Shortly after the Legislature passed the bill that Rep. Lamberth and Sen. Johnson carried in 2021, a federal civil rights lawsuit was filed in East Tennessee in April 2021 by individuals 18-20 years old. Those individuals claimed in the lawsuit that the law which was heralded by Bill Lee and proudly characterized by Rep. Lamberth and Sen. Johnson as constitutional carry was in fact unconstitutional. The plaintiffs claimed that the law violated the 2nd Amendment, violated the 14th Amendment and that it constituted a federal civil rights violation. It turns out that the were right. Bill Lee, Rep. Lamberth and Sen. Johnson pushed for an convinced other legislators to support legislation which on its face was unconstitutional.

Now, those legislators would not concede that this “flaw” existed but Jonathan Skrmetti, Tennessee’s new Attorney General, did recognize that the Legislature’s and the Governor’s treatment of 18-20 year olds was unconstitutional.

In January 2023, the Tennessee Attorney General, representing the state of Tennessee, and the plaintiffs in the federal litigation submitted a proposed agreed order to the federal court. In that agreed order the state of Tennessee agreed that the 2021 law violated the 2nd and 14th Amendments and constituted a federal civil rights violation with respect to the 18-20 year old provision which generally made it a crime for individuals in that age bracket to either carry without a permit (these individuals were also ineligible for the Tennessee handgun permit.) For reasons not relevant here, the State of Tennessee and the plaintiffs rewrote the agreed order as a “settlement agreement” that contained the same substantive provisions and submitted that to the court. [See below]

As a result of the passage of these statutory infringements on 18-20 year olds, the state of Tennessee has also agreed to pay the legal fees of the plaintiffs in that litigation.

This series of events raises the question now of how many 18-20 year olds have been charged with carrying a handgun over the last few years. Those individuals may have a legal basis to challenge those convictions and may have a basis to bring federal civil rights claims against the State of Tennessee, perhaps the law enforcement officers and perhaps even prosecuting district attorneys.

This series of events also raise the question of how many other statutes, regulations and ordinances in Tennessee violate the 2nd Amendment, 14th Amendment and constitute federal civil rights violations? A recent lawsuit filed in Gibson county by several TFA members as well as by Gun Owners of America and Gun Owners Foundation against Bill Lee, as Governor, challenges the constitutionality of some Tennessee “gun free zone” statutes.

This series of events must raise the question of why are some state Legislators, some of whom are attorneys, introducing and supporting legislation that violates the 2nd and 14th Amendments? Why are Legislators filing bills that constitute or preserve federal rights violations? Why are Legislators – many of whom are in Republican leadership – following a course of action that so clearly violates their oaths of office under which they pledge to protect and defend your constitutional rights?

For years now, Governor Haslam’s administration, Governor Lee’s administration, and a substantial number of Republican legislators have pursued a course of civil rights oppression by either enacting laws or refusing to repeal laws that constitute clear and present infringements on rights protected by the Second Amendment. The question must be asked when the People of Tennessee, indeed, when the rank and file members of the Republican party in Tennessee, are going to stop “allowing” the unconstitutional suppression of your rights by government officials and demand that such individuals be held accountable.