The Tennessee Legislature adjourned on May 5, 2021. Was it a major
victory for Tennesseans in terms of 2nd Amendment legislation? No.
Was any progress made – absolutely. The purpose of this initial report
is to identify the bills that have passed both the House and the Senate
as of May 5. These bills are still subject to veto although with Bill
Lee that appears unlikely. TFA will do a detailed report once the
final language of the enacted legislation is pulled together and
published by the Legislature.
TFA tracked 53 bills during this session. Of that 19 were enacted.
Of the 19 that were enacted, the reform to civil immunity in Tennessee
for those who use justifiable force in self-defense is probably the most
significant. There are others bills which were amended late in the
session that appear to be good for 2nd Amendment supporters such as a
one-year long sales tax holiday on sales of safes and two bills which
appear to prohibit public official disclosures of firearms owner
identifying information. Then there are others bills which passed
which could and should have done much more, even according to the bill’s
sponsors, but which some will argue are at least an incremental step in
the right direction such as Governor Bill Lee’s qualified exception to a
criminal charge of carrying with intent to go armed (a form of
permitless carry but far from constitutional carry) or two bills that
propose to enact “sanctuary state” provisions.
The report below lists all of the bills that we believe have passed
both houses. Again, because several of the bills are laden with
amendments that completely or substantially rewrite the original bill,
you should use caution in reviewing and evaluating the bills until the
actual final formats are established and the final “public chapters” are
released.
Finally,
the TFALAC (TFA’s political action committee) has set its annual BBQ
lunch and auction for Saturday, September 4, 2021 at the Farm Bureau
Expo Center in Wilson county, Tennessee. Please sign up as sponsors, vendors or purchase your tables and tickets before we sell out. |
