On August 29, 2023, the Tennessee Legislature concluded all work on the special session. Although Governor Lee had insisted as early as April 2023 that the special session would focus on his proposed Red Flag law, he massively expanded that scope in his August 8, 2023, proclamation to include 18 different broad categories, one of which was a Red Flag law.  During the Special Session, the Legislature filed 114 bills in the House, 109 bills in the Senate, 56 House Joint Resolutions, 151 Senate Joint Resolutions, 23 House Resolutions and 21 Senate Resolutions.   At the end, the Legislature passed 3 bills (the governor could still veto one or more of them) plus an appropriation’s bill spending over $100 million in taxpayer funds.

Each of the three bills that did pass were sponsored in the Senate by Senator Jack Johnson and in the House by Representative William Lambert.  The Legislature passed these bills:

SB7085/HB7012 creates a sales tax exemption for gun safes and safety devices.  It also provides, if the Legislature allocates future funding, that the Department of Safety would use taxpayer funds to provide free firearms locks to Tennessee residents.  It further provides that the Department of Safety will revise the state approved handgun safety courses to include instruction on “safe storage methods” which is a move that signals a potential willingness in the future to consider safe storage mandates.  It also raises the potential problem that if training on “safe storage methods” are now mandated as part of permitting requirements whether a civil claim could be raised in future litigation on the assertion that the gun owner failed to comply with “established” safe storage methods.  The sales tax exemption was a good move – not one that met the constitutional requirement for a special session – but good on the merits.  The other two issues should have been omitted.

SB7086/SB7013 changed from 30 days to 72 hours the window of time within which courts and court clerks are required to report certain information regarding individuals to the TBI for inclusion in the background check databases.   Again, not a topic within the constitutional parameters of why a special session would be appropriate.

SB7088/HB7041 had nothing to do with firearms but addresses human trafficking.  It requires TBI to submit a report on child and human trafficking crimes and trends in this state, based upon data available to the bureau, as well as current programs and activities of the TBI’s human trafficking unit, to the governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the speaker of the senate by December 1, 2023.  One might have thought that this information was already being tracked and reported by TBI but apparently not or not in accordance with what this new legislation requires.

There are a few notes to take away from the Legislature’s response to Bill Lee’s demand for a Special Session.

One – numerous gun control measures were proposed by both Republican and Democrat legislators.  We can certainly expect that many of these will arise again when the Legislature returns in January 2024 to resume its “regular session”.

Two – Governor Lee still wants a Red Flag law in Tennessee as evidenced by his inclusion of that topic in item 12 of his proclamation for the Special Session.  While the Legislature did not pass a Red Flag law in the Special Session, there is no comfort to be had in the assumption that this issue as finally resolved with a permanent “not in my state and not on my watch.”  Too many Legislators are apparently willing to consider gun control including Red Flag laws.    This means that the # Red Flag Down campaign must continue on for the foreseeable future.

Three – we now have a week’s worth of committee and floor statements by numerous legislators specifically on gun control and Second Amendment topics.  These statements must be examined and efforts must be undertaken to re-elect legislators who stood solid on Second Amendment issues during the Special Session and efforts must be made to replace legislators whose bills, actions and statements make clear that they are not there to protect our rights to the full extent required by the Second Amendment.

Four – we can take note of how the Special Session turned into, at least for a period, an occasion where certain Democrat gun-control Legislators appeared to have been able to rally the gun control advocates as if they were serving as legislators only to facilitate “community organizer” agendas.   It is likely that at least one of these Legislators, particularly after being “hushed” for rules violations, will likely gain financial resources nationally as threat to the Second Amendment.

Five – it is obvious that the Republicans in the General Assembly are not a unified voice that are willing, at least on the Second Amendment, to defend our rights.   The Special Session exposed Republicans – mainly in the House – who are a clear risk to Second Amendment interests.   The Special Session also exposed a clear tension between the House and Senate on a number of issues related to not only gun control but the Governor’s agenda in general.

Tennessee Firearms Association members and members of other legitimate gun advocacy groups as well as our respective members can take a brief breath for today but only if they remain aware that the biggest threat to our rights is government, including the state and local governments in Tennessee.  It is now time to regroup, reassess, get ready for what may be a greater and more sustained fight that will be manifested in the January 2024 continuation of the Legislative session.

However, it is also time to look forward to the opportunities of the 2024 election cycle as an opportunity to improve the composition of the Legislature in terms of members and through them leadership in an effort to attain a Legislature that is without question (we hope) a strong defender of the rights, all the rights, protected by the Bill of Rights and the Tennessee constitution.