In this recent
video, C. Richard Archie discusses how the
Tennessee Constitution
violates the Second and Fourteenth Amendments. He explores how the state's evolving constitutional provision on the right to bear arms arose out of a "Jim Crow" focus that sought to deny certain members of society the fundamental rights that others enjoyed.
Some
Legislators have proposed and are supporting a Constitutional amendment
that would repeal the existing unconstitutional provision and
substitute the phrase
“That the citizens of this State have a right to keep, bear, and wear arms.” (See
Amendment 1 to
HJR0038 by Rep. Jay Reedy and
SJR0904 by Sen. John Stevens)
The amendment seeks
only to remove an unconstitutional provision from the state’s
constitution. The amendment would eliminate over 225 years of
unjust prejudice in favor of “free” or “white” citizens rather than all
citizens. The amendment would, at the state level, reinforce that
state legislators, local governments and others government decision
makers are constitutionally prohibited from engaging in any “interest
balancing” that the Supreme Court has said the Second Amendment
prohibits.