McMinn County GOP Passes Resolution Against Gov. Lee’s Red Flag Laws

Photo Credit: McMinn County Republican Party / Facebook

The Tennessee Conservative Staff –

McMinn County Republican Party Chairman Todd Watson has informed us that the county GOP has passed a resolution requesting that the Tennessee General Assembly preserve the fundamental right of Tennesseans to keep and bear arms.

The McMinn County Republican Party passed the resolution on May 31st.

The resolution reads as follows:

MCMINN COUNTY, TENNESSEE REPUBLICAN PARTY MCMINN COUNTY, TENNESSEE

A RESOLUTION REQUESTING THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE PRESERVE THE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHT OF TENNESSEANS TO KEEP AND BEAR ARMS

WHEREAS, the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution reads as follows: “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms shall not be infringed.“; and

WHEREAS, the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution was incorporated against the states in 2010 by the U.S. Supreme Court in McDonald v. Chicago 561 U.S. 742, reinforcing an earlier decision in District of Columbia v. Heller 554 U.S. 570 (2008) emphasizing the individual right of citizens to keep and bear arms; and

WHEREAS, self-defense and self-preservation are rights bestowed by God to all people; and

WHEREAS, so-called “red flag” laws are repugnant to the U.S. Constitution, specifically to the Second Amendment, because such laws, 1) potentially deprive law abiding citizens of their right to self-defense, 2) violate the due process clause by potentially depriving a citizen of property and self-defense based on presumptions, accusations, or a prediction of future behavior of a person, and 3) unfairly punish and infringe, without a criminal conviction, the right of citizen(s) to keep and bear arms.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the McMinn County, Tennessee Republican Party Executive Committee, meeting this 31 day of May 2023 as follows:

SECTION 1: That the General Assembly of the state of Tennessee is urged to reject any so-called “red flag” legislation that 1) infringes on the God-given right of law abiding Tennesseans to self-defense, 2) violates the Due Process clause of the Constitution by depriving a citizen of their right to keep and bear arms based on presumptions, accusations, or a prediction of future behavior of a person, or 3) punishes a citizen by infringing on their right to keep and bear arms short of a criminal conviction.

SECTION 2: That the General Assembly of the state of Tennessee focus on the root cause of violent crime, including gun violence, utilize better enforcement of existing gun laws to deprive violent criminals or the adjudicated mentally ill of their ability to do harm, and provide greater adult mental health services appropriate to treat conditions that may lead to violent crime. 

SECTION 3: That upon approval and signing of this resolution, a copy be transmitted to the legislators that represent McMinn County, Tennessee, the governor of the state of Tennessee, the speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives, the speaker of the Tennessee Senate, and the chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party. 

A scan of the original resolution can be found below: