November 8, 2024
Memphis ignores state law with new referendum that also violates the Second Amendment
On Election Day 2024 (November 5), the voters in Memphis were asked
to consider several local charter amendments that impact the rights
which are protected by the Second Amendment. By an overwhelming
majority, the results indicate that the voters in Memphis approved these
clearly illegal proposals. The issue now will likely proceed to the
courts.
Memphis proposed 3 specific issues
in Referendum Ordinance No. 5908. The first question asked whether
Memphis would ban on carrying a gun without a permit or having a gun in a
car without a permit in the city of Memphis. The second question asked
whether Memphis would adopt an assault weapon ban that would also
prohibit the sale of assault rifles in the city unless they were to law
enforcement or a government agency. The third question asked whether
Memphis should ignore state law by creating a “red flag” procedure in
Memphis where courts would be allowed to take someone’s gun away from
them if they are found to be a significant danger or extreme risk to
themselves or others. According to reports, the vote tabulation in
Memphis indicated that all three issues were approved by voters and that
these restrictions will go into effect in Memphis on January 1, 2025. These issues impact not only residents of Memphis but any individual who is in Memphis for any reason.
Further, in addition to being clear violations of the Second
Amendment, each of these new local ordinances clearly violate Tennessee
law which prevents local governments from any regulation of firearms or
firearms related activities (with only narrow exceptions that do not
apply to these ordnance changes). See, Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1314.
Tennessee Firearms Association has members and supporters who live in
or frequent Memphis. TFA is evaluating whether to file or support a
lawsuit to challenge the new ordinances.
Further,
shenanigans such as this must be opposed because other cities and
counties in the state may decide that they should also ignore the
Constitution and state law by following Memphis' lead. Indeed, Nashville's radical local government and current Mayor could easily follow this tactic as early as 2025.
If you are interested in helping fight these clearly illegal and unconstitutional acts by Memphis, you can do so by:
- joining
TFA as a member (or renewing your membership) if you are not already a
member. This would be particularly important if you live in or travel
to Memphis and you would want to be considered as a representative
plaintiff.
- if you are already a member of TFA, you can support this effort with a financial contribution that would help fund the litigation efforts.
- You can also make a tax deductible donation
to the Tennessee Firearms Foundation (a 501c3 charity) which has
increasingly engaged in or supported public interest litigation on
matters such as this.
Memphis has, for practical purposes, an unlimited capacity to
litigate issues such as this since it has a taxpayer funded “legal
department” that can be assigned the defense of these illegal acts at
practically no additional cost to Memphis. Litigation by or supported
by TFA could easily exceed tens of thousands of dollars because Memphis
will certainly fight to protect these new draconian ordinances and will
foreseeably do so on appeal if necessary.
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