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February 4, 2022
TFA's Initial Review of bills that have been filed in the 2022 Legislative Session.
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Legislative notes
Tennessee Firearms Association has initially marked 45 bills which
have been filed in the Tennessee Legislature since it adjourned in 2021
that fall within the scope of issues that TFA monitors. Some of the
bills are consistent with the 2nd Amendment’s mandate that the
individual right to arms “shall not be infringed”, some are neutral on
the issue and quite a few simply ignore the clear constitutional
mandate.
TFA is including on its website report a PDF report that contains a complete list of
the bills which have been identified for tracking so far. However, it is
important to understand that this list might and likely will change.
Why? Well, as we have known for many years some legislators will file
what are referred to as “caption bills”. A caption bill is one that has a
caption stating that it addresses a certain topic or that seeks to
alter or amend a part of existing law, but the body of the bill is just a
placeholder that might say for example it is changing a due date for a
required official report to be filed. For a caption bill it is normally
the case that the legislators’ true intent is to completely delete and
rewrite the original language of the bill to do something entirely
different once the bill starts being moved through the Legislature. Part
of the great risk with caption bills is that these amendments are far
harder to detect and track because the legislators are not required to
publicly place these amendments on the state website before they are
offered in committee and sometimes they are not available on the state’s
website even after a subcommittee adopts them or even a committee
adopts them. This “slight of hand” also often makes it difficult for
individuals and groups like TFA to see the actual, intended bill
language before it is voted on in the first committees to take up the
matter.
The following is a brief review of some of the more important or
interesting bills although not all of the bills which are on the
attached list are addressed here at this time.
SB1816/HB1951
filed by Sen. Campbell and Rep. Freeman addresses the situation where
someone convicted of domestic assault is required to remove from his or
her possession their firearms, which is already in current law. What
this bill seeks to do is to require the person who receives or purchases
the firearms to sign an affidavit that they have done so and that
he/she “accepts responsibility for possession of the firearm.” This
affidavit is filed with the court. Thus, the bill would create a public
registry of firearms transfers and owners at least with respect to
specific firearms. Further, it is not clear what is meant by the
requirement that the transferee agrees to be responsible for the
firearm. TFA OPPOSES this legislation.
SB1896/HB2004
filed by Sen. Campbell and Rep. Clemmons would make it a crime for a
person to “knowingly give, loan, or transfer a firearm to another that
the person knows or reasonably should know is prohibited by state or
federal law from possessing a firearm.” The legislation seeks to create a
new criminal penalty applicable to the “casual sale” of firearms
between individuals. The effect of this legislation is chilling and
could require people to start using federal firearms dealers to handle
lawful casual sales in order to prophylacticly create a paper trail and
defense should some rogue district attorney decide to prosecute people
on the “should have known” provision of this legislation. TFA OPPOSES
this legislation.
SB1970/HB2724
filed by Sen. Kyle and Rep. Miller would repeal existing law which
allows a person to store a firearm in a locked vehicle. TFA OPPOSES this
legislation.
SB1972/HB2059
filed by Sen. Kyle and Rep. Sparks would extend the sales tax holiday
on gun safes for one additional year. TFA SUPPORTS this legislation.
SB2024/HB2859
filed by Sen. Hensley and Rep. Kumar would allow a person to
voluntarily place themselves on a “no buy” list that would prohibit
federal firearms dealers from selling that individual a gun. TFA
OPPOSES this legislation.
SB2149/HB2850
filed by Sen. Massey and Rep. Kumar would require taxpayers to fund the
cost of providing a firearms training voucher for those who purchase a
firearm. TFA OPPOSES this legislation.
SB2170/HB2087
filed by Sen. Akbari and Rep. White would make it a crime to leave a
firearm unattended in a vehicle or boat (houseboat?) unless it is safely
locked away and out of view. It also requires those who have had a
firearm stolen or lost to report the matter within 24 hours of
discovery. TFA OPPOSES this legislation.
SB2211/HB2620
filed by Sen. Campbell and Rep. Harris would create a new crime for a
person to leave a firearm “in a manner that the person knows or
reasonably should know will allow a child under eighteen (18) years of
age to access the firearm and the child brings the firearm to a school…”
A “school” is defined to include not only schools (as defined by most
people) but also any property owned or managed by a third party –
including public parks – if a school is using the property for any
school purposes. TFA OPPOSES this legislation.
SB2291/HB1735
filed by Sen. Bell and Rep. Todd would allow all those 18 and up to
apply for the enhanced handgun permit. However, the proposed bill
includes language which seeks to impose criminal prohibitions concerning
the places where 18-20 year olds who have an enhanced permit but do who
do not military service can possess a handgun which prohibitions do not
apply to 18-20 year olds who have military service. While TFA SUPPORTS
allowing those 18 and up to carry handguns if they can lawfully own or
possess them but TFA opposes the provision in this bill that creates an
equal protection concern.
SB2521/HB2521
filed by Sen. Hensley and Rep. Jerry Sexton would revise existing law
on posting private property as a gun free zone. The change would require
that the property owner or manager give notice of the prohibition to
someone who may be in possession of a firearm and that person would have
an opportunity to remove the firearm from the gun-free zone. Criminal
charges would only be available if the person refused to comply with the
request to remove the weapon from the property. TFA SUPPORTS this
legislation.
SB2638/HB232 filed by Sen. Niceley and Rep. Grills would modify the definition of use of force. TFA SUPPORTS this legislation.
SB2698/HB2770
filed by Sen. Bowling and Rep. Todd would impose a custodial duty to
provide protection for citizens when a business or location is posted as
a gun free zone. TFA SUPPORTS this legislation.
SB2715/HB2807
filed by Sen. Kyle and Rep. Hardaway would impose criminal liability
for storing a firearm on a vehicle or boat where a person is not present
unless the item is in a locked contained affixed to the vehicle. TFA
OPPOSES this legislation.
SB2799/HB1738
filed by Sen. Roberts and Rep. Sparks extends the sales tax holiday on
gun safes and devices to June 30, 2023. TFA SUPPORTS this legislation.
SB2803/HB1898
filed by Sen. Roberts and Rep. Grills would convert the existing
handgun permits to “firearms” permits. Tennessee law presently does not
allow someone to carry a longarm in public (e.g., someone who shoots
sporting clays after work presently cannot legally carry a longarm from a
parking garage to their own office). TFA SUPPORTS this legislation.
SB2823/HB2777
filed by Sen. Roberts and Rep. Todd would established revised criminal
procedures in self-defense cases which would establish a procedure for a
court to consider the issue of self-defense before the case is
presented to a jury. TFA SUPPORTS this legislation.
SB2866/HB2524
filed by Sen. Bailey and Rep. Jerry Sexton would delete the provision
of current law which makes it a crime for a citizen who can legally
possess a firearm to carry that firearm. This small change removes the
existing statutory scheme that makes it a crime for any citizen to carry
a firearm in public which crime is subject to various defenses or
exceptions such as having a handgun permit. This legislation would move
Tennessee much closer to true constitutional carry. TFA SUPPORTS this
legislation.
TFALAC Event
Finally,
the TFALAC (TFA’s political action committee) has set its annual BBQ
lunch and auction for Saturday, September 3, 2022 at the Farm Bureau
Expo Center in Wilson county, Tennessee. Please sign up as sponsors, vendors or purchase your tables and tickets. |
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Executive Director
johnharris@tennesseefirearms.com
Joining and supporting TFA is an investment in the
fight to restore our constitutional rights and to fight against politicians who
are willing to sell their votes and your rights to whichever business interest
gives them the most money!
TFA Website: www.tennesseefirearms.com
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