On January 23, 2023, an agreed order was filed in the federal case styled
Beeler v. Long,
U.S. District E.D. TN 3:21-cv152 (
opinion included in full on TFA website) in which the
Tennessee Attorney General agreed with the Plaintiffs that Tennessee’s
ban on 18-20 year olds to get handgun permits was unconstitutional.
Prior to its passage, Tennessee Firearms Association and its
members were
demanding that the 2021 law cover anyone who could legally possess a handgun not just those 21 and up.
Of course, Republican legislators disregarding the position of TFA
concerning the age issue problems in the legislation as well as other
concerns and passed the law with the unconstitutional provisions just as
the Governor and bill sponsors wanted. Within a few weeks of that law
being passed by the Republican super majority, this federal civil rights
lawsuit was filed in East Tennessee.
In the federal civil
rights case, the Plaintiffs asked the federal court “to declare
unconstitutional and enjoin enforcement of Tenn. Code Ann §§
39-17-1307(a)(1), (a)(2), (g)(1), 39-17-1351(b)-(c), and 1366(b)(3), and
any related regulations, policies, procedures, practices, and customs
that Defendant administers, implements, and/or enforces pursuant to
Tenn. Code Ann §§ 39-17-1307(a)(1), (a)(2), (g)(1), 39-17-1351(b)-(c),
and 1366(b)(3) in order to restrict individuals aged 18 years old to 20
years old from carrying handguns or obtaining permits to carry handguns
on the basis of age alone….” Tennessee’s prior attorney general had
vigorously opposed the lawsuit.
In the fall of 2022, Jonathan
Skrmetti, Tennessee’s new Attorney General, took several actions which
signaled perhaps a change of opinion regarding whether Governor Lee’s
hallmark legislation and the positions taken by the House and Senate
sponsors were constitutional. In the Agreed Order, the parties agreed
that “[t]he Challenged Scheme regulating the possession and carrying of
handguns that restricts individuals aged 18 years old to 20 years old
from carrying handguns or obtaining permits to carry handguns on the
basis of age alone violates the Second and Fourteenth Amendments to the
United States Constitution.” A determination which the legislators had
been advised years ago was the proper constitutional conclusion and
which the prior Attorney General had refused to acknowledge.
The
order permanently enjoins the state of Tennessee from discriminating
against 18-20 year olds relative to handgun permits or “permitless
carry” on the basis of age along.
While a major victory, there is much to be done. Tennessee still does not have REAL constitutional carry. Tennessee still has unconstitutional statutes, rules and regulations on things like "gun free zones", prohibitions on carrying longarms, etc. To help you demand that
your rights be honored, Tennessee Firearms Association has invested in an
advocacy tool that helps you to stay in contact with your legislators. Get started now by going to the Call to Action page on the TFA's website.
Finally, TFA acknowledges
Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and his team for recognizing the
constitutional failures of Tennessee’s gun laws in this regard and the
amicable resolution of this matter. Perhaps, we can as Tennesseans
look forward at least to an Attorney General that honors and protects
our rights, as protected by the 2nd and 14th Amendments like our
Governors and Legislators should have been doing.