June 16, 2017
On
June 15, 2017, the Tennessee Court of Appeals issued an opinion regarding the
challenge by Tennessee Firearms Association and the Bill Goodman Gun and Knife
Shows to the action by the Metro Fair Board to stop leasing space at the
publicly owned fairgrounds in Nashville to anyone who wanted to conduct a gun
show event.
The two
plaintiffs claimed that the gun show ban by Metro violated the state’s
pre-emption law (Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1314) by attempting
to regulate commerce in firearms and otherwise. Also, the plaintiffs claimed that the
action by Metro violated a Metro charter restriction on Metro’s authority to
limit the activities at the fairgrounds which restriction had been imposed on Metro by a public referrendum.
A
public referendum from 2010 added a provision in the Metro Charter by which
the citizens of Davidson County affirmatively prohibited Metro government from
discontinuing any type of use of the fairgrounds going forward if the
fairgrounds had been used for that type of “activity” in the past. That public
referendum appears to have arisen out of attempts by Metro to discontinue the
use of the racetrack at the fairgrounds but the charter amendment was not
limited to just races. Instead, it covered any category of prior "activity"
which would include flea markets, gun shows, livestock shows, wrestling
matches, etc. Gun shows have taken place at the fairgrounds for at least
30 years.
The
court of appeals concluded, in summary, that neither TFA nor the Goodman
plaintiffs had “standing” to question whether Metro was violating the
law. This determination has shocked many 2nd Amendment
supporters and should shock other supporters of the fairgrounds because it
effectively means that Metro government can ignore a public referendum that was
enacted specifically to prohibit Metro government from doing what it did
shortly after Megan Barry became mayor – prohibiting activities at the
fairgrounds that had previously been a regular and extremely popular
occurrence. Prohibiting activities - like gun shows - that progressives want to ban.
The
actions by Metro are believed to be the basis for a change in state law that
just went into effect in June 2017 which now expressly provides that
individuals and entities, such as TFA and Goodman, would have “standing” as a
matter of law to challenge violations of the state pre-emption act. That
state law also now provides that if a successful challenge is made that the
local government entity could be required to pay the plaintiff’s attorneys fees
which could cost local governments significant amounts if they intentionally or
otherwise violate the state pre-emption laws regarding firearms.
The
decision of the court of appeals may be challenged by asking the Tennessee
Supreme Court to consider the matter.
If this turn of events concerns you, join TFA today to help continue the fight!!! If you are already a TFA member and this angers you, as it should, consider making a supplemental member contribution to help continue the legal battle.
Yours
John Harris
Executive Director
Tennessee Firearms Association
PS If you want
to help us move to get rid of gun free zones, to enact constitutional
carry, and to push back against an unwilling legislative leadership and an
uncooperative administration, please consider this request to join, renew and support
the Tennessee Firearms Association. Asking for your member support of TFA is a
call to action both financially and, more importantly, a call to
affirmative action of individual engagement in a real battle for the
restoration of our rights.
Other important links
TFA Website: www.tennesseefirearms.com
TFA PAC: www.tfalac.org
Facebook TFA Page: www.facebook.com/Tennfirearms/
Facebook TFA Group: www.facebook.com/groups/TennesseeFirearms/
Twitter: @Tennfirearms
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