The Tennessee Legislature, as an entity, has proven the inability to take into consideration the United States Supreme Court’s decision in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, No. 20-843. In Bruen, the Supreme Court held that any existing or proposed laws that do not have a national historical tradition as of 1791 (that is a present or proposed law that is aligned with a “restriction” that existed as of 1791) is unconstitutional under the Second Amendment. Without any question, the current Legislature has filed and is considering at least 143 bills that TFA has identified for tracking and many of those, filed by members of both parties, completely lack any reasonable argument that they were proposed in conformity with the Supreme Court’s mandate.
Since January 1, 2024, at least 143 bills have either been introduced in the Tennessee Legislature or are bills that were filed in 2023 which have had some type of activity. While some of the bills obviously satisfy the “Bruen Basis” standard, many, if not most, make no effort to address the Supreme Court’s mandate that the burden is on the government to demonstrate that existing and proposed changes in the law satisfy the constitutional tests that the Supreme Court applied in the Bruen decision.
Below is a complete list of the bills that TFA has identified for tracking so far. If you are aware of other bills that should be considered, please let us know.
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