Tennessee has had a civilian handgun permit since May 1994. Tennessee’s original civilian handgun permit was renamed in 2019 as the “enhanced” permit. Nothing was enhanced or improved, it was just a new name. At present, thirty-six (36) states honor the Tennessee “enhanced” permit. For the last several years, TFA has pushed legislation that would…
Author Archives: JohnHarris
Tennessee’s alternative “concealed only” permit and why you should not pick it
Tennessee legislators created a second type of civilian handgun permit in 2019 that went into effect on January 1, 2020. It is a “concealed only” permit. Tennessee Firearms Association opposed the legislation and strongly recommends against citizens considering this concealed only option. Here is why. Tennessee first passed a handgun permit law in May of…
Tennessee Public Officials call for more infringements on a right which “shall not be infringed”
As citizens of this state and nation, the United States Supreme Court has declared that we all enjoy as a fundamental human right, a right which pre-exists the formation of any state or even the United States, the right to keep and bear arms. The Second Amendment in the Bill of Rights does not create…
Tennessee Attorney General Opinion released on “antique firearms”
The Tennessee Attorney General issued an opinion (AG 19-19) on October 9, 2019, in which the AG concluded that “…the prohibitions in Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1307 on the possession of firearms by individuals convicted of felonies and certain misdemeanors still apply to the possession of antique firearms…” no longer apply after the passage of…
September 11 – a call to protect liberty over perceived safety
The Tennessee Firearms Association came into existence just a few years prior to the terrorists attacks of September 11, 2001. Since then, we have seen massive changes in our government and many of those have needlessly come at the expense of our personal freedoms and liberties. We have seen material erosions of our freedoms in…
TFA joins as amicus in brief with United States Supreme Court regarding the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act
On September 4, 2019, the Tennessee Firearms Association joined forces with Gun Owners of America, Inc., Gun Owners Foundation, The Heller Foundation, Conservative Legal Defense and Education Fund, California Constitutional Rights Foundation, Policy Analysis Center and Restoring Liberty Action Committee by filing an amicus brief in a case by Remington Arms Co. and others against…
WalMart “partners” with Everytown for Gun Safety and Michael Bloomberg to advance gun ban agenda
Tennessee Firearms Association wants to make sure all gun owners and all 600,000+ handgun permit holders in Tennessee are aware of Walmart’s increasing anti-gun stance on your capacity to exercise the right to keep and bear arms which is protected by the United States Constitution. Even worse – if that is possible – all gun…
TFA Training – Grassroots, Campaign and Candidate training for summer of 2019
Tennessee Firearms Association is doing what it can to help its members and the public become better, more informed grassroots activists. It is critical that the public be not only informed of what is going on in the legislatures but also that they have the training and tools to deal with the “control” shenanigans that…
Attorney General Opinion on carrying handguns in “buildings” where judicial proceedings might occur
Tennessee has long had a law (Tenn. Code Ann. 39-17-1306) which until 2017 prohibited weapons in “while inside any room in which judicial proceedings are in progress”. Frankly, most people understood that ordinary citizens could not take a gun into a courtroom if the court was in session. As a result of an amendment offered…
TFA 2019 Legislative Report
Tennessee Firearms Association’s primary goals for the last few years have been constitutional carry, permitless open carry (a subset of constitutional carry), strengthening civil immunity, and the reduction of the number of gun free zones. There are also other legislative objectives intended to make Tennessee law better. TFA tracked 67 bills this year. The Legislature…