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…
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…
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, 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…
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 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…
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…
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…
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…
The Attorney General serves the state, not the people…what law does the state enforce that keeps criminals from using guns to commit crimes? The three judge panel in Hughes et al. v. Lee et al. decided only two things: that Tennessee Code Annotated § 39-17-1307(a), (the intent to go armed statute which makes it a…