On February 4, 2026, a unanimous Tennessee Appellate Court substantially overruled much of the trial court’s ruling which had blocked public access to the records obtained by the Metropolitan Police Department with respect to the Covenant School murders in March 2023. Opinion. Tennessee Firearms Association and Chief James Hammond (retired) working with Judicial Watch sued…
Category Archives: News
2026 Is About Accountability — Not More Lies and Excuses
For more than 16 years, Tennessee has been governed by a Republican supermajority that promised to defend the Constitution and failed to do so. The result is not abstract, theoretical, or harmless. It is concrete, dangerous, and personal. And, worse, it was intentional. By refusing to repeal or fix unconstitutional gun control statutes, Republican legislators…
Legislative Oaths, Constitutional Duties, and the Duty to Repeal Unconstitutional Firearms Statutes
In August 2022, a three-judge panel in Tennessee unanimously ruled in Hughes v. Lee that two long-standing Tennessee firearms statutes are unconstitutional under the Tennessee Constitution (as limited by the Second and Fourteenth Amendments). The unanimous ruling declared as unconstitutional However, the defendants in that case, Governor Bill Lee and Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, have…
TN Attorney General Skrmetti Addresses Hughes v. Lee with Conservative Voters in Brentwood
In early January 2026, Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti openly addressed the Hughes v. Lee unanimous trial court ruling and his appeal of that ruling with voters in Brentwood, Tennessee. Kelly Jackson, of Truthwire News, attended the meeting and has written about Skrmetti’s comments and his attempts to justify retaining statutes in Tennessee which he concedes…
Mark Smith, National Second Amendment Attorney, Blasts Tennessee Attorney General’s Appeal in Hughes v. Lee
Mark Smith, a nationally known constitutional attorney and member of the Supreme Court bar who also has an extremely popular YouTube and social media presence, has picked up on the outrageous arguments that Governor Bill Lee and Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti have made in their initial appellate brief in the Hughes v. Lee matter which…
Bill Lee and Jonathan Skrmetti’s Appellate Brief in Hughes v. Lee Reveals Disdain for Unanimous Trial Court Ruling
On January 6, 2026, Bill Lee and Jonathan Skrmetti, in their respective official capacities, filed their brief with the Tennessee Court of Appeals in their appeal of the unanimous three-judge trial court ruling in Hughes et al. v. Lee, et al. The state’s brief shows the state cannot defend Tennessee’s gun-carry statutes as written. Rather…
Harmeet Dhillon, Civil Rights Division DOJ, discusses pending cases supporting 2nd Amendment rights
Harmeet K. Dhillon is the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Justice. President Donald Trump nominated her in December 2024 and she was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 3, 2025, and sworn in as AAG by Attorney General Pam Bondi on April 7, 2025. Under her, the DOJ’s…
Is uncompromising defense of the 2nd Amendment “too toxic?”
Some legislators in Nashville—yes, even a few who campaigned as “pro-Second Amendment”—are now not only whispering but are publicly stating that the Tennessee Firearms Association and its leadership are “too toxic.” Why? Because we’ve dared to hold them accountable to their oath of office and their promises to you. Let’s be clear: terms like “toxic” are…
What does the Court of Appeal’s stay mean in Hughes v. Lee?
On September 30, 2025, the Tennessee Court of Appeals issued a “stay” of the three-judge trial court’s ruling in Hughes et al. v. Lee et al which ruling declared two of Tennessee’s gun control statutes unconstitutional. Although the trial court ruling declared these two statutes unconstitutional, it did not issue an injunction which would have…
TN Court of Appeals issues “stay” of the Hughes v. Lee ruling
On September 30, 2025, the Tennessee Court of Appeals issued a “stay” in the appeal by Governor Bill Lee and Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti of the three-judge panel’s ruling which declared two of Tennessee’s gun control statutes unconstitutional. The ruling leaves the status of Tennessee law in confusion since the trial court had declared these…