The Tennessee Legislature failed once again on the obligation to
remove infringements of the rights protected by the Second Amendment’s
“shall not be infringed” mandate. Although the Republican majority has
campaigned as being strong on Second Amendment issues (and some are) the
leadership of the respective Republican caucuses proves once again that
their political priorities lie other than in upholding the
constitutions and protecting your rights from state and local
infringements.
We tracked 74 bills in 2025. Of that number, we only supported 8
bills with one additional bill listed for support if it was completely
amended. (See the Supported Bill Report). What happened to the “good”
bills – the Republican controlled Legislature blocked or killed most of
them.
Of the 74 bills that were tracked in 2025, 15 were enacted into law
and 1 is a proposed constitutional amendment that will ultimately
require consideration by the voters. Of the enacted bills, none truly
embodies a material repeal of any existing infringements under State law
on the rights protected by the Second Amendment. This failure by the
Republican controlled Tennessee Legislature stands in stark contrast to
the Republican legislators who serve in Legislative leadership and hold
themselves out as Second Amendment supporters.
To be fair, there are a number of Legislators who are proven to be
strong Second Amendment supporters and who do stand up for your rights.
However, the bills that they propose are often blocked or stonewalled in the various legislative committees before they ever get to a floor vote.
This fact – a historical trend – demonstrates beyond dispute that
Tennessee’s Governor Bill Lee and his Legislative co-conspirators in the
Republican leadership of the House and Senate do not truly embrace or
support the constitutional protections of the rights within the scope of
the Second Amendment or the Tennessee Constitution. Those Legislators
in leadership who have the capacity by their offices to lead the charge
to repealing the infringements on your Second Amendment rights but who
have a demonstrated history of doing otherwise include Lt. Gov. Randy
McNally, Speaker Cameron Sexton, Senator Jack Johnson, Senator Todd
Gardenhire, Rep. William Lambert, Rep. Andrew Farmer and others whose
bills and votes demonstrate a clear abhorrence against your
constitutionally protected rights.
SB441/HB478 (Sen. Bailey and Rep. Butler) would have addressed the
consequences of carrying a firearm on posted property. Neither house
moved forward with the bill in the respective Judiciary Committees.
SB474/HB387 (Sen. Bowling and Rep. Butler) would have prevented and
limited healthcare workers from gathering data and creating health
records containing data pertaining to firearms ownership, possession or
access. Both houses deferred the legislation to 2026.
SB819/HB554 (Sen. Roberts and Rep. Capley) would have created a civil
action against government officials for infringing a person’s rights as
protected by the Second Amendment or the Tennessee Constitution. The
House Civil Justice Subcommittee (chaired by Rep. Andrew Farmer) killed
the bill.
SB824/HB985 (Sen. Hensley and Rep. Warner) would have removed the
criminal offense component of carrying a weapon on posted property.
The bill was taken off notice in the House Criminal Justice
Subcommittee.
SB914/HB883 (Sen. Bailey and Rep. Todd) this was a
caption bill that was amended in the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee
to revise the intent to go armed law. Note: TFA did not help write
this amendment and its content, offered by someone else, had numerous
and serious problems which would have required a complete rewrite. TFA
only supported this bill because the caption was broad enough that it
could have been salvaged with an acceptable amendment. Had this bill
proceed with the House Amendment in the Senate, TFA would have opposed
it.
SB1227/HB1189 (Sen. Lowe and Rep. Grills) this bill would have
converted the existing handgun permits to firearms firearms. The
Senate Judiciary (Chaired by Sen. Todd Gardenhire) killed the bill.
SB1360/HB873
(Sen. Hensley and Rep. Fritts) amended Tennessee’s existing PLCAA
(“Protection of Lawful Commerce of Arms Act”) to close a loophole. The
bill therefore strengthened the protections of manufacturers and dealers
in Tennessee from lawsuits which seek to claim that the manufacture and
distribution of firearms should be the basis for liability claims.
This legislation was enacted as Public Chapter 329.
SB1407/HB856 (Sen. Hensley and Rep. Capley) would have provided the
ability for individuals to use deadly force (e.g., brandishing a weapon)
to protect personal property and real estate in certain circumstances.
The Senate Judiciary (Chaired by Sen. Todd Gardenhire) killed the
bill.
HJR53 (Rep. Reedy) this resolution proposed a constitutional
amendment on the ballot in 2030 for voters to modify Article I, Section
26 of the Tennessee constitution by removing a provision that violates
the protections of the Second Amendment and the Fourteenth Amendment.
Note that a similar effort was made in 2024 that would have put the
matter on the ballot in 2026 and although that effort passed the Senate
it failed in the House reportedly because of opposition from House
Republican leadership. This resolution was blocked by the House
Finance, Ways and Means Subcommittee.
Of the 74 bills that we tracked in 2025, 15 were enacted into law and
1 proposed constitutional amendment was approved. The bills that
became law are listed in the attached report along with the public
chapter numbers.
SB130/HB175 (Sen. Page and Rep. Darby) allows
the use of drones to locate and retrieve deer that have been wounded by
hunters. This will require TWRC/TWRA to adopt implementing regulations.
SB206/HB646 (Sen. Massey and Rep. Carringer) this bill allows hunters to wear flourescent pink as opposed to hunter orange.
SB221/HB34 (Sen. Taylor and Rep. Gillespie) allows the use of
juvenile court records for setting bonds for adult offenders. Requires
judicial magistrates to consider juvenile court records of adult
offenders when evaluating bond.
SB256/HB601 (Sen. Gardenhire and Rep. Freeman) provides a means for
post-conviction relief in certain instances by asserting actual
innocence based on new evidence.
SB407/HB445 (Sen. Gardenhire and Rep. Hulsey) revises procedures for restoration of rights.
SB863/HB799 (Sen. Stevens and Rep. Grills) requires TWRC to promulgate rules to issue guide licenses relative to Reelfoot lake.
SB869/HB938 (Sen. Hensley and Rep. Capley) creates an extra cost
“bait privilege” license that may be used under certain circumstances by
deer hunters.
SB1038/HB1060 (Sen. Bowling and Rep. Howell) increases fees that
county clerks are allowed to collect on the sale of hunting and fishing
licenses.
SB1075/HB1093 (Sen. Johnson and Rep. Sexton) a caption
bill that was amended at the end of session and which redefines a
machine gun for state law purposes (e.g., “Glock switches”). Increases
penalty relative to machine guns from a Class E to a Class C felony.
Expands the offense of unlawful possession of a firearm with a prior
conviction of a felony crime of violence, an attempt to commit a felony
crime of violence, or a felony involving a deadly weapon, or a prior
conviction for a felony drug offense, to include possession of
ammunition. Expands the offense of unlawful possession of a handgun to
include possession of ammunition. Prohibits probation for a person
convicted of aggravated assault involving the discharge of a firearm
from within a motor vehicle. Establishes that a person incarcerated for
the offense of aggravated assault, if the offense involved the use of a
firearm from within a motor vehicle, is ineligible to receive sentence
reduction credits and must serve 100 percent of the imposed sentence.
SB1082/HB578 (Sen. Johnson and Rep. Doggett) adds specific criminal
offenses to the list of dangerous felonies for purposes of the offense
of possessing a firearm or antique firearm during commission or attempt
to commit a dangerous felony.
SB1140/HB918 (Sen. Crowe and Rep. Grills) addresses issuance
temporary group hunting event permits to a not-for-profit organization
that sponsors and pays for a hunting experience at no cost to a veteran
with any percentage of service-connected disability.
SB1296/HB1314 (Sen. Johnson and Rep. Lamberth) creates a Class E
felony offense for knowingly, by any means of communication, threatening
to commit an act of mass violence and the threat causes another to
reasonably expect the commission of an act of mass violence. This
classification is enhanced to a Class D felony if: (1) the violation
involves a threat to commit mass violence on the property of a school,
house of worship, or government, or at a live performance or event; (2)
the defendant has one of more prior convictions for such offense or a
Class A misdemeanor threat of mass violence on a school property; or (3)
the defendant takes a substantial step towards the execution of the
threatened act and engages in preparatory actions. Authorizes a
sentencing court to order a person convicted of threatening to commit an
act of mass violence to pay restitution, including costs and damages
resulting from the disruption of the normal activity that would have
otherwise occurred but for the threat to commit an act of mass violence.
Creates a Class B misdemeanor offense for posting on a publicly
accessible website a person’s telephone number or address with the
intent to threat or cause harm. Enhances the penalty, from a Class B
misdemeanor to a Class A misdemeanor, if the offense results in harm to
the individual or a member of the individual’s household.
SB1318/HB1332 (Sen. Johnson and Rep. Lamberth) one of the present
eligibility requirements for issuance of an enhanced handgun carry
permit is that the applicant for a permit has not been convicted of DUI
two or more times within 10 years from the date of the application and
that none of the convictions has occurred within five years from the
date of application or renewal. This amendment clarifies that an
applicant who has a DUI conviction that occurred within five years from
the date of application or renewal is not eligible for a permit; and (2)
this law also lowers the age requirement to 18 to apply for a handgun
permit provided, that the applicant meets all other eligibility
requirements for issuance of the permit.
SB1360/HB873 (Sen. Hensley and Rep. Fritts), discussed above, amended
Tennessee’s existing PLCAA (“Protection of Lawful Commerce of Arms
Act”) to close a loophole. The bill therefore strengthened the
protections of manufacturers and dealers in Tennessee from lawsuits
which seek to claim that the manufacture and distribution of firearms
should be the basis for liability claims.
SB1384/HB683 (Sen. Watson and Rep. Lamberth) changes various provisions regarding licensed non-governmental security guards.
SJR25 (Sen. Johnson) a proposed constitutional amendment that removes
the right to bail when the proof is evident or the presumption is great
for the following offenses: act of terrorism, second degree murder,
aggravated rape of a child, aggravated rape, grave torture, or any other
offense for which a defendant could not be released prior to the
expiration of at least 85% of the entire sentence.
