As of January 12, 2024, approximately 30 bills have been filed on
issues of interest to the Tennessee Firearms Association and its
members. As detailed in the report below, most of them are bad ideas
that demonstrate a complete disregard of the Supreme Court’s mandate in
its decision in
New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, No. 20-843. In
Bruen,
the Supreme Court tried once again to make clear that the rights
protected by the Second Amendment are not ‘second class’ rights but they
are fundamental rights which the Constitution absolutely prohibits any
government from infringing. The Supreme Court held that the only
exception to that prohibition would be restrictions which were identical
to or close analogues to restrictions that were part of the nation’s
historical tradition as of 1791 when the Second Amendment was adopted.
TFA
has called on Tennessee Legislators to be prepared to demonstrate the
“Bruen Basis” for any legislation that they propose and also for any
existing laws that they fail to repeal. Although the “
Bruen Basis” is described more fully in the TFA’s prior
post,
it generally means that Legislators have an affirmative burden imposed
by the Supreme Court to demonstrate by clear evidence that any proposed
law or restriction by government on any right that appears to be
protected by the Second Amendment is a restriction that existed as part
of the nation’s historical tradition as of 1791. The Supreme Court
made clear that other claimed justifications such as “reasonable”,
“common sense”, or even, as Bill Lee likes, “public safety” are
irrelevant. The Supreme Court imposed an affirmative burden on the
government to prove that the proposed restriction – whatever it is – is
one that the nation (not just one or two states) embraced as part of its
“historical tradition” as of 1791 when the states ratified the Second
Amendment.
As noted, most of these proposals and practical all
of the proposals by Democrat legislators or “Democrat minded”
legislators fail the “Bruen Basis.”
We are posting the
list of
bills that have been filed in Tennessee since Bill Lee’s Special Session
on gun control ended (largely in a failure if measured by his desires).
We are
noting three bills that are set to be heard in a House Subcommittee next Tuesday, January 16, 2024.
House Bill 1149
by White address expungements of criminal records once someone has
completed his or her sentence. The original bill might be worth
discussing. However, the
Senate version
of the bill that passed last year is different than the original
version and those 2 versions need to be carefully contrasted to see
which is more likely to meet the “Bruen Basis” requirement.
House Bill 113
by Russell is legislation directed at providing information to
individuals in the criminal justice system about getting their voting
rights restored but it is silent on requiring efforts to get their
Second Amendment rights restored. This appears to suggest that Rep.
Russell and perhaps other legislators are more interested in restoring
voting rights than they are protecting Second Amendment rights.
House Bill 994
by Keisling is a bill that addresses whether a private citizen can
threaten the use of deadly force to make an arrest in a situation where
“the arrest is for a crime committed or threatened against the citizen
making the arrest or for a violent crime committed or threatened in the
presence of the citizen making the arrest.”
