Additional Red Flag proposal seeks to target individuals on specific prescriptions

Another “Red Flag” category of legislation has surfaced on April 20, 2023. This one is written as an amendment to House Bill 768 by Representative John Ragan and Senate Bill 522 by Senator Frank Nicely At this time, we have no information to indicate that either of these sponsors are cooperating with the proposed amendment or even willing to consider it.

This bill comes from a different angle. What it seeks to do is to create a new class of prohibited persons in Tennessee who will loose their 2nd Amendment rights, perhaps permanently, based solely on whether the individual is taking one of ten (10) specifically listed prescription drugs. The drugs listed in the legislation are:

(1) Citalopram;
(2) Fluvoxamine;
(3) Paroxetine;
(4) Fluoxetine;
(5) Sertraline;
(6) Venlafaxine;
(7) Mirtazapine;
(8) Nefazodone;
(9) Bupropion; and
(10) Escitalopram.

As written, the proposed amendment would require that the individual receiving a prescription for one of these drugs would have to sign an acknowledgement that the person:

(A) Understands and agrees to be barred from the purchase of a firearm for at least the duration of the treatment regimen; and
(B) Understands and agrees that information concerning the prescription will be shared with the Tennessee bureau of investigation and that the patient waives the patient’s non-disclosure rights under the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) (42 U.S.C. § 1320d et seq.) and other federal and state confidentiality laws for purposes of sharing information concerning the prescription with the Tennessee bureau of investigation.

The proposed legislation would require that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation create a database of people who are taking these medications and that anyone attempting to purchase a firearm from a federally licensed dealer would be denied by TBI when the background check is performed.

There is nothing in the legislation to indicate that it takes any into any consideration whether the person is a risk of harm to themselves or others because of being prescribed the mediation. There is nothing in the legislation that addresses whether the medication is being used in different doses or for “off-label” purposes. There is simply nothing in the legislation to suggest that there is any material or scientific basis for this proposal.

In addition, the legislation suffers from the same constitutional flaw as Bill Lee’s proposed Red Flag law that TFA addressed in recent posts. The proposal is completely devoid of any details or information to show that it meets the constitutional threshold requirements established by the United States Supreme Court in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen, 142 S. Ct. 2111 (2022).