Tennessee Firearms Association has local and regional chapters that meet in a few locations across the state. At present, there are chapters that meet in
- Clarksville / Montgomery County area –
- Cookeville / Putnam County area –
- Jackson area –
- Knoxville / Knox County area –
- Nashville area –
- Robertson County –
- Sumner County –
- Wilson County –
How to start a local chapter?
We get this question a lot from people who are not already part of a TFA local chapter. This is just a general guide as to what a chapter is and what it takes to operate one.
First step, contact TFA (John Harris or C. Richard Archie) to discuss the chapter proposal. We want to talk with you about it, share our experience and make sure that two or more groups are not working to create a chapter in the same area. Assuming the initial decision is made to start a chapter, here are some guides.
Chapter mission – to promote TFA by growing membership and volunteers particularly with a view to local projects. This is not a partisan focused group since by law TFA is nonpartisan.
Chapter activities – most conduct monthly meetings although some may opt to meet every other month or every three months. Some chapters coordinate volunteers to work local gun shows, wild game dinners, to distribute membership information. Some chapters meet occasionally at informal “meet ups” at ranges to enjoy a non-TFA overseen event.
Chapter Leader(s) – most are encouraged to have two to three Chapter teams as leaders who can run the meetings in the event of an accident, illness, etc. Chapter leaders need to be responsible for a meeting location (frequently a restaurant optimally with a buffet or “easy” service options like pizza, BBQ, etc), sending out meeting reminders, lining up guest speakers, and staying in contact with TFA state officials. Chapter leaders should also have a prepared topic just in case a speaker has a last minute emergency. These prepared topics can be by the chapter leader or another member that regularly attends or can come at the last minute. For example, once chapter leader has been working through the TN constitution.
Meetings – Meetings are not “business” meetings in that there are no minutes to be maintained, treasurer’s report, etc. It is social and networking focused. Most meetings are an hour excluding meals. Most meetings invite legislators, candidates, local officials, local law enforcement, state or federal law enforcement, emergency responders, doctors, candidates for office, district attorneys, defense attorneys, etc., as guest speakers. We try to select speakers that will address TFA relevant topics in their presentations. Again, this is nonpartisan so we do not recommend local party leaders, state party leaders, etc. Some TFA chapters do not meet in November and/or December (or other months) particularly if their normal meeting dates are toward the end of the month or fall on a holiday. Most meet on a weeknight that is selected by the local attendees. Often, those are Monday, Tuesday and Thursday although we have had some that meet on Saturday mornings. Most meetings start off with the chapter leader making a few intro comments about things such as the upcoming TFALAC (PAC) events, local gun show or other event “booths” that need volunteers, training programs, etc. Then the chapter leader introduces the guest speaker and turns the program over. Meetings should maintain sign-in sheets to get names, addresses, phone numbers and emails. Emails get added to the mail list by the chapter leader or designee (we have a standardized MailChimp process) and the sign-in is sent to TFA once a month.