On March 6, 2026, Plaintiffs Stephen Hughes, Duncan O’Mara, Elaine
Kehel, Gun Owners of America, Inc., and Gun Owners Foundation filed
their joint
Appellees’ brief in response to the appeal by the State of Tennessee from a unanimous three-judge trial court panel’s
ruling
in August 2025 that two of Tennessee’s gun control statutes violated
the Tennessee Constitution, as constrained by the Second Amendment.
At issue in the case is a state constitutional challenge to two
Tennessee gun control laws. The first – Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1307(a)
(the “Going Armed Statute”) – broadly prohibits the carrying of a
firearm – even within one’s own home – “with the intent to go armed,”
thereby criminalizing the constitutional right to “keep and bear arms”
by default, and transmuting it to an affirmative defense to that
criminal charge.
The second challenged statute – Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1311(a) (the
“Parks Statute”) – generally prohibits carrying a firearm in parks and
other “public recreational buildings and grounds,” inherently ordinary
and nonsensitive places where the Framers never would have prohibited
firearms.
These criminal statutes allow law enforcement to stop, detain,
question, arrest, and criminally prosecute individuals for no reason
other than because they exercised their enumerated right to bear arms.
Although statutory exceptions exist, those exceptions operate only as
affirmative defenses, meaning they do not bar prosecution at the outset.
In Tennessee, the carrying of a firearm anywhere is a crime by default.
Every. Single. Time.
Indeed, it is a crime in Tennessee to carry a firearm, with the
intent to go armed, on your own property and even in your own home.
Tennessee Firearms Association has been urging Tennessee’s
Legislators for many years to repeal these unconstitutional statutes.
However, legislators, the Haslam Administration, the Lee Administration,
the TBI, the Department of Safety and many representatives of local law
enforcement have worked together to preserve these statutes – rather
than repeal them – by claiming that they are constitutional. Although a
three-judge trial court panel unanimously ruled otherwise, as of today
Tennessee’s Republican super majority in the Legislature has failed to
repeal these statutes.
Two candidates in the Republican Primary for governor – Rep. Monty
Fritts and Congressman John Rose – have each expressed public agreement
with the trial court ruling and have spoken against the State’s appeal.
Numerous other candidates for local, state and federal office have
likewise called for the repeal of these statutes subsequent to the trial
court’s ruling. Legislation that would repeal these two statutes is
once again pending but appears stalled in the committee system.
Worse, Republican legislators, led by Senator John Stevens and
Representative Andrew Farmer are pushing legislation that would make it
more difficult if not impossible to bring future constitutional
challenges to the Legislature’s numerous unconstitutional statutes.
(See Senate Bill 1958 and House Bill 1971)
What can you do?
- Read the unanimous opinion and the Appellees’ brief to understand the issues.
- Contact your legislators to demand that they ensure that these two statutes are repealed before they adjourn this year.
- Insist that your legislators defeat SB1958 and HB1971 to protect the
right to bring other constitutional challenges to Tennessee’s other gun
control laws.
- Share this information with family, friends and other Second
Amendment supporters to encourage them to contact their legislators.
If you appreciate the work of the Tennessee Firearms Association on
issues such as this, please consider joining. You can also made
charitable donations to the
Tennessee Firearms Foundation
to help fund this and other public interest litigation that focuses on
restoring fully the rights protected from government infringement by the
Constitutions.
