So far the Tennessee Firearms Association has identified about 15 bills for tracking so far this year. Most of them are either bad or of minimal impact to most civilians.
In the Senate, most of the firearms bills will be heard in
Senate Judiciary. The hopeful news this year is that two senators who have been a recurrent problem in that committee - Sen. Brian Kelsey and Sen. Doug Overbey - are no longer on the committee. The Committee is now chaired by Senator Mike Bell who has been a long time supporter of most 2nd Amendment legislation.
In the House, the firearms bills typically will be assigned to the
Judiciary Committee. It is one of the larger committees and has 4 subcommittees. We expect many of the 2nd Amendment related bills to be assigned first to the
Constitutional Protections subcommittee which chaired by
Chairman Micah Van Huss. Chairman Van Huss has carried bills that TFA strongly supported in the past such as constitutional carry and permitless open carry.
There are two bills set for calendar today in the Constitutional Protections subcommittee which meets at 5:00 pm CST. These bills are
HB0041 by Van Huss. (SB0095 by Watson.)
Handgun Permits - Amends TCA Section 39-17-1351. As introduced, requires the department of safety to issue a handgun carry permit containing zeros in place of an expiration date upon request by a permit holder or applicant who is in the military and stationed outside this state.
HB0042 by Van Huss.
Firearms and Ammunition - Amends TCA Title 39 and Title 40. As introduced, reduces the punishment for a person committing the offense of illegal possession of a handgun.
These are the only 2 bills of those that we are tracking so far that are now listed on the calendar for today.
