Tennessee has a constitutional problem. The problem is that Tennessee’s Constitution, Article I, Section 26, which was last amended just after the Civil War, purports to grant to the Legislature the authority to regulate the wearing of arms. The problem is that this provision clearly violates the Second Amendment! Further, Tennessee’s Republican legislators and the…
Author Archives: JohnHarris
Protect Responsible Gun Owners from Harsh Penalties under Tennessee’s “Posted Properties” statute
Tennessee has had a problem for many years as a result of an overly aggressive statute that makes it a criminal offense to even walk on property (public or private) that is posted. This statute is much harsher than the typical “trespass” statute which requires that the property owner or manager ask the individual to…
Tennessee Pending Legislation Report – February 21, 2025
Tennessee’s Legislators have been busy filing bills that relate to the Second Amendment. So far, TFA has identified 70 bills that it has marked for tracking (see PDF below). Predictably, some of these bills will have TFA’s support if they remain as presently written. The number of the supported bills is 8 including one that…
Did ATF reverse the Biden era “zero tolerance” enforcement policy?
News reports have proclaimed in the last week that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has dropped its “zero tolerance” policy that has been fabricated by it as a tool to revoke licenses of gun dealers and manufacturers over “paperwork errors”. A careful read of the ATF’s new, albeit heavily redacted, revision of…
Trump’s “promises made, promises kept” as reflected in Tennessee
On January 20, 2025, Donald Trump became the nation’s 47th President. He campaigned the last four years on the promises that he was making to the American voters. On January 20 the world watched as Trump immediately set about to keep many of those promises. Promises made, promises kept – as evidenced by his actions…
Snow and defense of property in Tennessee
Weather reports are consistent that the entire state of Tennessee is expected to have an unusual statewide snow storm arrive on January 10, 2025, that with extended forecasts could exist for perhaps a week or more. Snow storms in Tennessee often result in power outages that sometime last days or weeks and vehicle wrecks which…
Bill Lee and Jonathan Skrmetti submit brief claiming Tennessee’s statutes comply with Second Amendment
On February 16, 2023, a lawsuit was filed by Stephen L. Hughes, Duncan O’Mara, Elaine Kehel, Gun Owners of America, Inc., and Gun Owners Foundation against Bill Lee, in his official capacity as the governor of the state of Tennessee, and Jonathan Skrmetti, in his official capacity as the state’s Attorney General. See, Stephen L.…
Are there REALLY 29 states that have “constitutional carry”
By: Jordan Hagness In response to calls for increased gun control, there has been a countervailing movement of red states enacting bills that have been referred to as “constitutional carry” or “permitless carry” bills. Today, some have asserted that as many as 29 states are “constitutional carry” states; however, each state has a unique statutory…
TFA joins amicus brief to United States Supreme Court supporting Smith and Wesson appeal
On December 3, 2024, Tennessee Firearms Association and Tennessee Firearms Foundation joined Gun Owners of America, Inc., and several others in an amicus brief that was filed in the United States Supreme Court in the appeal by Smith and Wesson in a case filed by the country of Mexico against Smith and Wesson. The appeal…
Sen. Janice Bowling supports TFA’s lawsuit against City of Memphis regarding firearms ordinances
Senator Janice Bowling, the Senate sponsor of Senate Bill 2763 (113th General Assembly), has notified the Tennessee Firearms Association that she supports the lawsuit filed by TFA, Gun Owners of America, Gun Owners Foundation and Ty Timmermann against the City of Memphis which lawsuit seeks to declare the city’s recently enacted firearms ordinances to be…