April 5, 2019
Old habits and shenanigans die hard. Conservatives were
promised for years prior to 2010 that if we helped the Republicans seize
legislative control from the Democrats that they would remove the
infringements on our rights as recognized and protected by the Second
Amendment. It is now 2019. Have the promises been honored? Conservatives
and firearms supporters are not seeing strong Second Amendment bills
moving forward this year – just as has been the case in the last 9
years. What we see is as much if not more activity to take “two steps
back” and create even more confusing, complicated, and undesirable laws.
Now, don’t take that entirely the wrong way. We do have some
strong and trusted Second Amendment supporters in the Legislature
(notice the omission of another branch of government). The problem is
that we do not have enough – that is, enough to fully overcome the
Establishment and RINOs who continue to derail and amend into oblivion
good bills. One small, perhaps temporary victory is that Republican Senator Steve Dickerson’s gun confiscation legislation ( Senate Bill 1178
– also known as a “Red Flag” law) was procedurally killed in the Senate
Judiciary this week by referral to “General Sub.” Although it may be –
may be – dead for 2019 it will be back. It is critical that we
continue the work to defeat this and similar bills and, more
importantly, that we work now to identify candidates to support in 2020
to defeat each and every existing legislator and other elected officials
(judges, district attorneys, sheriffs, etc.) who supported this and
similar bills! Another high interest bill is House Bill 409 / Senate Bill 1275
which tries to make important improvements to Tennessee’s civil
immunity laws as they apply to self-defense situations. Although the
bill was amended in the House Constitutional Protections Subcommittee,
the amendment is NOT available (which seems to be the norm) on the
state’s website. The bill is set for the House Judiciary committee on
April 9 and needs call of support!!! In addition, we anticipate that
Representatives William Lamberth, Mike Carter, Bill Sanderson and Mike
Curcio may need LETTERS and PHONE CALLS specifically requesting their
support (contact information for all legislators below).
House Bill 626 / Senate Bill 590
is one which seeks to impose limits on the ability of citizens and
interested parties to file “open records requests” and receive copies of
public records or communications. This is a dangerous move since it
could materially impair the right of the public to obtain or review
government records if the government officials could make a claim that
the records requests were “harassment”. This is a dangerous “shield the
government” bill and should be stopped. It is set for hearing on April 9
in the House Judiciary. Rep. William Lamberth is the sponsor and he
needs to hear phone calls and letters from across the state opposing
this bill. The Senate version of the bill is in Senate Judiciary also
on April 9 and is carried by Senator Hensley (who needs calls and
letters of opposition.) House Bill 801 / Senate Bill 813 is
another bill, like Dickerson’s Gun Confiscation Legislation, that pairs
a Republican sponsor with a Democrat sponsor to create a gun control
bill that unnecessary and should be stopped. This bill would make it a
crime to leave a firearm or ammunition in a boat (perhaps a
houseboat) or a motor vehicle (perhaps an SUV, an RV or even a tour bus)
in which an individual under the age of 19 is present unless the gun and the ammunition is in a locked container.
This is another bad idea that should have never been filed. It is
scheduled for a hearing on April 9 in the House Judiciary Committee to
stop this bill. Did you notice that most of the bills
that are moving or which are set to be heard are bills that would
further weaken or infringe our rights? Are you asking yourselves why
this would be happening in a state where the entire state government is
supposedly under the unbridled control of Republicans?
Please contact your legislators concerning these bills. It is
important that we keep reminding them about the bills which remove
infringements on our rights but it perhaps more important that we demand
as voters that they put a stop to any proposed legislation the detracts
to the smallest degree from our constitutionally protected rights.
Committee compositions, calendars and members are found on the State WebsiteYou can look up your individual legislators on the State’s “ Find my Legislator” page.
Senate Judiciary Members (note the links work better from the TFA's blog page )
Bell, Mike sen.mike.bell@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-1946 Lundberg, Jon sen.jon.lundberg@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-5761 White, Dawn sen.dawn.white@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-6853 Bowling, Janice sen.janice.bowling@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-6694 Gardenhire, Todd sen.todd.gardenhire@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-6682 Kyle, Sara sen.sara.kyle@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-4167 Roberts, Kerry sen.kerry.roberts@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-4499 Robinson, Katrina sen.katrina.robinson@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-2509 Stevens, John sen.john.stevens@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-4576
House Judiciary Members
Curcio,Michael rep.michael.curcio@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-3513 Garrett,Johnny rep.johnny.garrett@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-3893 Beck,Bill rep.bill.beck@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-3229 Camper,Karen rep.karen.camper@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-1898 Carter,Mike rep.mike.carter@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-3025 Daniel,Martin rep.martin.daniel@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-2287 Doggett,Clay rep.clay.doggett@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-7476 Eldridge,Rick rep.rick.eldridge@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-6877 Faison,Jeremy rep.jeremy.faison@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-6871 Farmer,Andrew rep.andrew.farmer@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-4419 Griffey,Bruce rep.bruce.griffey@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-6804 Howell,Dan rep.dan.howell@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-7799 Hulsey,Bud rep.bud.hulsey@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-2886 Johnson,Curtis rep.curtis.johnson@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-4341 Lamberth,William rep.william.lamberth@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-1980 Littleton,Mary rep.mary.littleton@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-7477 Mitchell,Bo rep.bo.mitchell@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-4317 Ogles,Brandon rep.brandon.ogles@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-6808 Parkinson,Antonio rep.antonio.parkinson@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-4575 Potts,Jason rep.jason.potts@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-2035 Rudder,Iris rep.iris.rudder@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-8695 Sanderson,Bill rep.bill.sanderson@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-0718 Sherrell,Paul rep.paul.sherrell@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-1963 Tillis,Rick rep.rick.tillis@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-4170 Towns. Jr.,Joe rep.joe.towns@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-2189 VanHuss,Micah rep.micah.vanhuss@capitol.tn.gov (615) 741-1717
The bill status report and the bill calendar can be accessed through the TFA's website at this page
It
is important that you review these reports and contact committee
members and your individual legislators with your opinions, particularly
your support or opposition.
Committee compositions, calendars and members are found on the State WebsiteYou can look up your individual legislators on the State’s “ Find my Legislator” page.
John Harris
Executive Director
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