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TFA’s analysis of Governor Bill Lee’s permitless carry law – and why to avoid it
The Tennessee Firearms Association recommends that people get or keep
the Tennessee enhanced handgun permit rather than relying on the
Governor’s new permitless carry bill that goes into effect on July 1,
2021. For the full details underlying that advice, see today's TFA News post.
In sum, consider these points:
- Governor Bill Lee's new law is not true constitutional carry. True constitutional carry means that everyone who can legally purchase or possess a firearm can carry the firearm in or on substantially all public properties. The Governor's law does not do this.
- Governor Lee's law did not repeal the law that makes it a crime for an individual to carry a firearm with the intent to go armed. That could have been done but it is not what Governor Lee and the majority of the Republican controlled Legislature decided to do. Instead, they retained and perpetuated the prohibition that keeps individuals from carrying firearms in Tennessee for personal safety and non-criminal use.
- Governor Lee's new law is a qualified exception to the criminal charge of carrying a handgun (not all firearms) with the intent to go armed. The law has at least 7 conditions that must be met in order to be eligible for the individual to rely on it.
- Under Governor Lee's new law, there are numerous classes of individuals who can legally purchase and/or possess firearms including handguns who cannot take advantage of the new "permitless carry law"
- There are geographic traps that were needlessly created by Governor Lee's permitless carry law. For example, while an individual who has a permit can carry in a public park or on a greenway it is a crime for an individual who is carrying under Governor Lee's permitless carry law to do so in a public park or on a public greenway.
- Governor Lee's permitless carry law elevates at least one non-violent misdemeanor to a level that results in the infringement of a constitutionally protected right.
Significantly, there are a number of Republican legislators who have established on the legislative record that they also do not believe that this is true constitutional carry.
Some have asserted that this permitless carry law will "allow" some Tennesseans to carry a handgun without a permit. Yes, it does do that but it does it by creating a qualified exception to a criminal charge. That is not constitutional carry. That does not apply to all citizens equally.
Tennessee Firearms Association appreciates those legislators who worked to try and get real constitutional carry passed not only this year but even in the past. It is the goal but more significantly it is what "shall not be infringed" means.
TFA recommends to those who want to carry a firearm in Tennessee that they get the Tennessee enhanced handgun permit. That permit provides the broadest capacity to carry in Tennessee under current law, it provides the most options on how to carry in Tennessee, it provides defenses that are not available under the Governor's permitless carry law and it provides the greatest degree of acceptance under reciprocity standards with other states.
This is just a summary of the analysis. For the full details underlying that advice, see today's TFA News post.
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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
TFA PAC: www.tfalac.org
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