Tennessee Firearms Association is concerned about information being received from news and legislative sources that some in the General Assembly are considering the idea of "Red Flag" laws.  Legislators considering such a proposal should proceed cautiously.

The United States Supreme Court June 2022 opinion in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen established that state laws and regulations which impact the rights within the scope of the Second Amendment are presumptively protected from state or local government regulation.

The Supreme Court established in Bruen that, “when the Second Amendment’s plain text covers an individual’s conduct, the Constitution presumptively protects that conduct.  To justify its regulation, the government may not simply posit that the regulation promotes an important interest.  Rather, the government must demonstrate that the regulation is consistent with this Nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation.  Only if a firearm regulation is consistent with this Nation’s historical tradition may a court conclude that the individual’s conduct falls outside the Second Amendment’s ‘unqualified command.’”  Bruen at 2126.  The only appropriate inquiry, according to Bruen, is what the “public understanding of the right to keep and bear arms” was during the ratification of the Second Amendment in 1791 ...."  Bruen at 2137–38. 

Based on this Supreme Court decision and the constitutional protections imposed by the Second and Fourteenth Amendments, state legislators risk engaging in unconstitutional conduct and possible federal civil rights violations if they knowingly proceed with legislation that violates the Second Amendment.   Accordingly, state legislators face an affirmative burden to demonstrate in the consideration of any legislative that may impact the rights protected by the Second Amendment to demonstrate on the legislative record that such legislation clearly satisfies the Bruen Court's requirement that the proposed law or regulation is supported by the "Nation's historical tradition" as of 1791.

Tennessee Firearms Association is asking each Legislator to take a moment to consider this heavy burden that the Supreme Court has imposed and that each Legislators accepted in his or her oath of office.   TFA is also asking each Legislator to take this brief Legislator Survey  at this time.