The Tennessee Legislature has clearly been working to address 2nd
Amendment issues this year. Many Tennessee Legislators are focused on
these issues because they are hearing from their constituents that their
constituents have these issues are priorities on their minds –
particularly with the federal government now under the control of the
Biden-Harris administration and the violence and turmoil of the last few
years that originated with the progressive left.
Your job as an informed citizen advocate is to do what you can to
encourage all elected officials to put an increased focus on removing
the infringements on the individual rights that the 2nd Amendment
protects from government infringement.
The attention of some
Legislators to these issues was exhibited this week as an important
deadline in the Legislature passed the filing of new bills – February
11, 2021. There are 28 new bills which were filed this week that TFA
has added to its list for tracking. Detailed reports on those bills are
found in the bill report that is linked below.
In addition,
five (5) of the bills that we are tracking are scheduled to be heard in
various legislative committees next week. Details on those bills, the
dates and times of the committee hearings, the committee members, and
other information are in the calendar report that is linked below.
We are not going to do a full review on each bill at this time
because we believe that several of them are “caption” bills. A caption
bill is one which is filed as a placeholder in order to open up a
particular section or part of the existing statutory code but the
content of the bill is not the intended actual purpose of the bill. The
real purpose likely is in some planned amendment which has yet to be
filed.
There are several bills in these 28 new ones which are worth noting and calling your legislators to support or oppose.
SB765/HB786 appears to be the same bill that was filed last year as
the Governor’s bill. It is likely one of the bills that will require
heightened attention because it already has the governor’s support. It
has many provisions to increase penalties on the criminal use of a
firearm but it also has language that addresses permitless carry by some
civilians. This bill could easily be adjusted to implement full
constitutional carry of any firearms by anyone who can legally possess
the firearm. Approximately seventeen other states already have this
kind of law and at least two more are moving quickly this year to change
their laws to that format.
SB935/HB1273 seeks to impose
criminal sanctions on people who leave firearms unattended in certain
vehicles – which might even include RVs or houseboats. It is bad
legislation that further victimizes a victim and should be opposed.
SB1040/HB1160
would make it illegal for individuals to engage in the “casual sale” of
firearms. It would require that all non-retail sales of firearms be
conducted through a federally licensed dealer. It is a bad bill and
must be opposed.
SB1041/HB1161 like SB1040/HB1160 would make it
illegal for individuals to engage in the “casual sale” of firearms. It
would require that all non-retail sales of firearms be conducted through
a federally licensed dealer. It is a bad bill and must be opposed.
SB1333/HB899
is a bill that was pending in 2020 and we are glad to see it refiled in
2021. It would create a civil cause of action against a government
entity that violates the individual rights that are protected by the
Second Amendment.
It is important for Tennesseans to contact
their legislators in person, by telephone and by written letter to
either support or oppose these bills. If your legislators is not a
member of the committees which are hearing these bills, you should still
call your legislators and request that they speak with the committee
members to voice support (or opposition) to the bills.
It is
also appropriate for you to directly contact the committee members on
the bills that they will be hearing. Some may not take your calls
because you are not a “constituent” but the fact is when they are
serving on committees they are representing all Tennesseans and not just
those in their districts. If you need to look up the names, numbers
or addresses of legislators you can use the legislature
lookup tool.