The Tennessee Legislature, particularly the House of Representatives, has a chronic problem with its concept of transparency. It has a clear history and current character for taking care of “the People’s business” in ways that make it impossible for the People to actually track and monitor what the Legislature is doing. This is not an…
Author Archives: JohnHarris
TFA joins amicus brief in 9th Circuit case involving state law restrictions on firearms purchases
On May 2, 2022, Tennessee Firearms Association joined with other national and state organizations to support an appeal to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals of a case challenging and at the trial court level striking down certain state level infringements on firearms purchase procedures. The case is Yukutake, et al, v. Shikada, et al.,…
Tennessee House passes bill to reduce age to legally carry a handgun to 18
The Tennessee House of Representatives passed House Bill 1735 on April 21, 2022, to allow citizens 18-20 who can legally possess a handgun (and meet other conditions) to obtain an enhanced handgun permit or to carry under the 2021 permitless carry law based on an amendment adopted by the House. The bill passed the House…
Are Tennessee Democrat leaders aggressively anti-2nd Amendment?
This year brings an interesting development in the evolution of the Tennessee Democrat party’s leadership into a party that is continuing on its path to become more and more as anti Second Amendment as the national Democrat party leaders clearly are. Indeed, Tennessee’s Democrat leadership increasingly looks more and more like the laughing stock Alexandria…
Lt. Gov. Randy McNally and Speaker Cameron Sexton introduce a bill as amended to attack grassroots advocates
On April 5, 2022, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally’s “caption bill” which he is sponsoring, SB1005, was amended from a 2 page bill to a 15 page bill that now contains a direct attack on the 1st Amendment rights of Tennesseans who support issue advocacy groups such as the Tennessee Firearms Association which are established as…
Tennessee Senate Republicans kill REAL Constitutional Carry on April 6, 2022 and break a promise doing it
The Senate Judiciary “killed” the 2022 REAL constitutional carry bill (HB2524/SB2866) today by sending it to “summer study”. That much we know. We also know that this is EXACTLY what Governor Bill Lee, his Commissioner in the Department of Safety, Jeff Long (a former sheriff), and the Department of Safety’s taxpayer funded spokesperson had wanted…
Tennessee Firearms Association joins in amicus brief to US Supreme Court on high capacity magazines
On April 1, 2022, Tennessee Firearms Association joined with Gun Owners of America, Inc., and other national and state organizations to submit an amicus brief with the United States Supreme Court in a petition filed in the case of Virginia Duncan, et al., v. Rob Bonta, No. 21-1194. This is one of many cases in…
Is 18 “too young” to be allowed to carry a firearm?
There have been several bills pending over the last few years in Tennessee that raise the issue of whether those 18-20 years old should be allowed to carry a handgun or obtain a handgun permit. Some think that they should based, for example, on the fact that at 18 they can legally purchase in casual…
Is Tennessee on the verge of unintended consequences with amendment to REAL constitutional carry?
On March 29, Tennessee’s House Criminal Justice Subcommittee took up HB2524 by Rep. Jerry Sexton. To be clear, Tennessee Firearms Association still supports Rep. Jerry Sexton on this bill but there are some serious concerns with the amendment that was added and the fact that this amendment may make some individuals who can today lawfully…
“REAL” Constitutional Carry bill moving forward in Tennessee Legislature
There is legislation which moved forward in the Tennessee House this week which could cause REAL constitutional carry to be adopted in Tennessee in 2022. The legislation in the House is HB2524 by Rep. Jerry Sexton. The Senate version of the bill is SB2866 by Senator Paul Bailey. The House bill was approved by the…