13 Firearms Bills To Be Heard In TN Legislature This Week

Image Credit: Public Domain & Thomas R Machnitzki /CC

By John Harris [Tennessee Firearms Association] –

There are 12 committee hearings the week of March 7 that will take up various bills tracked by the Tennessee Firearms Association in the House or Senate.  Several of these are instances where your calls and support or opposition need to be made.   All of these bills are listed HERE.

The Tennessee Firearms Association asks that all Second Amendment supporters do the following:

1) Call your House and Senate members.  Ask them to SUPPORT bills that we support.  To do that they should a) tell the bill sponsors that they want the legislation passed and b) sign on as co-sponsors.  Follow up with phone calls every day or so to make sure they do it.  

If it is a bill we are recommending to OPPOSE – call your members and insist that they contact both the sponsors and the committee members to demand that the bill be stopped.   If you don’t know who your legislators are, you can look it up on the state website.  Email addresses for committee members are included HERE.

2) Contact by phone and email the members of the committee which are to hear these bills.  You don’t have to leave a long message or debate with them.  Simply state that you are a concerned Tennessee citizen and TFA member.  Tell them you SUPPORT (and want the bill passed into law) or you OPPOSE (and want the bill killed).   Keep track of who you talk to and what their responses were.

3) Go to the TFA Facebook page and share not only your efforts but also the responses you received.  Let’s support those legislators who do the right things and lets REPLACE and EXPOSE the ones who do not.

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SUPPORT:

HB1898 by Rep. Grills is set for Tuesday in the House Civil Justice Subcommittee at 9:00am. This bill would convert the existing enhanced and concealed only handgun permits to “firearms” permits.   This bill was partially heard this week but a representative from the Department of Safety appeared to testify that the Department of Safety opposed allowing citizens to carry longarms. 

HB2770 by Rep. Todd is set for Tuesday in the House Civil Justice Subcommittee at 9:00am. This bill would impose “custodial responsibility” on those businesses and other locations that opt to declare their properties “gun free” zones.

HB2521 by Rep. J. Sexton is set for Tuesday in the House Civil Justice Subcommittee at 9:00am. This bill will substantially improve Tennessee’s “posting” laws.

HB2554 by Rep. Hurt is set for Tuesday in the House Civil Justice Subcommittee at 9:00am.  Current law allows off duty law enforcement to carry in certain places that enhanced permit holders are not allowed to carry.  This bill would allow enhanced permit holders to carry in the same locations that off duty officers are allowed under this statute to carry.  

SB2823 by Sen. Roberts is set for Tuesday at 3:00 pm in Senate Judiciary.  This bill would create various changes to criminal procedure that would allow an individual who used justifiable self-defense or use of force to ask a court to dismiss the charges prior to trial.  The bill also would allow a defendant who is acquitted based on justified use of force (like Kyle Rittenhouse) to seek an award of litigation fees and expenses.

HB2509 by Rep. Grills is set for Wednesday at 9:00am in the House Criminal Justice subcommittee.  It would eliminate the state regulation of short barrel rifles or shotguns.

HB2524 by Rep. J. Sexton is set for Wednesday at 9:00am in the House Criminal Justice subcommittee.  It removes the offense of carrying a firearm with the intent to go armed.  If enacted, this is a major step toward true constitutional carry.

OPPOSE:

HB2850 by Rep. Kumar is set for Tuesday in the House Civil Justice Subcommittee at 9:00am. This bill would impose more than an estimated $2 million a year on taxpayers in order to give training “vouchers” for gun classes to new gun purchasers.  The Senate version (SB2149) by Sen. Massey is set for Tuesday at 3:00pm in the Senate Judiciary.

HB2724 by Rep. Miller is set for Tuesday in the House Civil Justice Subcommittee at 9:00am. This bill would repeal parts of Tennessee’s permitless vehicle transport law which, at present, is the only means to legally transport a longarm if there is ammo in it or in the vicinity of it.

HB2599 by Rep. McKenzie is set for Tuesday in the House Health Subcommittee at 12:00 pm.  This bill would treat “gun violence” as a public health issue and require state funds to be expended to create reports designed to support future gun control legislation in Tennessee.

HB1830 by Rep. Lamar is set for Wednesday in the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee at 9:00 a.m.  and would have the Department of Health treat “gun violence” as a health issue which is typically a predecessor move in a gun control agenda. 

HB2807 by Rep. Hardaway is set for Wednesday in the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee at 9:00 a.m.  and would make it an offense to store a firearm in a motor vehicle unless in a locked container “affixed” to the vehicle. 

SB2752by Sen. Akbari is in Senate Health and Welfare on Wednesday at 3:00pm.  It would require the Department of Health to treat “gun violence” as a public health issue.

About the Author: John Harris is the Executive Director of The Tennessee Firearms Association. You can contact TFA here. You can join TFA here.