Almost every candidate that has run for the office of governor or the
state Legislature in the last 30 years has, particularly if they
identify as a conservative or a Republican, claimed that they support
your rights as protected by the Constitution and the Second Amendment.
That has been true when the Democrats held state government and when the
Republicans seized control around 2010 after almost 150 years of
Democrat domination of state government.
The fundamental problem
in Tennessee now and for many decades is that the statutes are based on
the core presumption that its a crime for a citizen to carry a firearm
with the intent to go armed. Some would suggest that this core “no
guns” principle came into being as a “Jim Crow” law after the end of the
Civil War and the passage of the 1870 state constitution. But, the
fact is that such laws in Tennessee go back at least prior to the 1820s
although even then the laws were likely designed to keep certain
individuals or classes of individuals from being armed and leaving it to
“law enforcement discretion” on who was charged with the crime.
Tennessee
will NEVER be a true “constitutional carry” state until the basic
infringing premise – that it is a crime for a citizen to carry a firearm
with the intent to go armed – is eliminated from our laws. That is
because TRUE or REAL constitutional carry requires a statutory scheme
where it is simply not a crime – of any sort or degree – for someone who
can legally possess a firearm to carry it with the intent to go armed. Tennessee at present has no such law.
This
is an issue that TFA has advanced for many years but yet both Democrat
and Republican governors have failed to address the issue
constitutionally. Legislators, particularly when they are candidates,
often speak of supporting the 2nd Amendment but after the last 28 years
they have failed to do so. The question is “Why?”
Well,
honestly, there are many answers to the question. But rather than get
into those details which are likely not to be well received by some,
let’s address the typical response of the governor and some legislators.
The response of “incrementalism”.
In 2021 as the permitless carry legislation was moving through the
legislature, amendments were offered and even other bills were filed
that would have been more truly called “constitutional carry”. These
existed because despite what was said about the bill, the legislation
was merely yet another statutory defense to the criminal charge of
carrying a firearm with the intent to go armed. It did not and in the
format it was enacted never would be true constitutional carry. So as
the 2021 permitless carry legislation was advancing some legislators
openly said that it was not real constitutional carry. They said things
like (paraphrasing) “it moves the ball down the field”, “its the
biggest chunk of freedom we can get right now”, “its a step in the
right direction”, and “its the most the public will accept at one time”.
Incrementalism – the act of knowing what is required to
achieve a goal but willfully refusing to take that step although
professing at the same time to desire the actual goal.
The truth
is that the fight to get true constitutional carry in Tennessee is a
“poster child” for government’s deathly embrace of incrementalism.
Consider the following timeline:
Tennessee’s modern handgun permit law was enacted in 1994 at which
time the Democrats controlled the office of Governor as well as the
Legislature. That law was amended in 1996 when the “current” handgun
law (TCA 39-17-1351) was enacted as 1996 Tennessee Laws Pub. Ch. 905 (H.B. 2381) on May 8, 1996. It was substantially amended in 1997.
Since then, Tennessee’s handgun permit law has seen regular
incremental amendments to the point that it is practically impossible
for most civilians – and legislators – to know the history:
2000 Pub.Acts, c. 947, § 8C, eff. June 23, 2000
2001 Pub.Acts, c. 218, § 1, eff. May 15, 2001
2002 Pub.Acts, c. 601, § 1, eff. July 1, 2002
2003 Pub.Acts, c. 300, §§ 1, 2, eff. July 1, 2003
2003 Pub.Acts, c. 349, §§ 1, 2, eff. June 13, 2003
2004 Pub.Acts, c. 483, §§ 1, 2, eff. April 8, 2004
2004 Pub.Acts, c. 776, § 1, eff. May 28, 2004
2005 Pub.Acts, c. 343, § 1, eff. July 1, 2005
2005 Pub.Acts, c. 423, § 1, eff. July 1, 2005
[Note: In 2007 Republicans gain control of the Senate and Ron Ramsey
takes control as Lt. Governor with the help of a vote from Democrat
Senator Rosalind Kurita who was later stripped of her party affiliation]
2008 Pub.Acts, c. 1174, § 1, eff. July 1, 2008
[Note: In 2009, Republicans gained a 50-49 majority in the House and
Kent Williams, a Republican became speaker when he voted for himself
along with all members of the Democrat caucus]
2009 Pub.Acts, c. 101, § 1, eff. April 27, 2009
2009 Pub.Acts, c. 433, § 1, eff. June 12, 2009
2009 Pub.Acts, c. 578, §§ 10, 11, eff. Jan. 1, 2010
2010 Pub.Acts, c. 1009, § 4, eff. June 4, 2010
[Note: Bill Haslam wins the race for governor in 2010 and in January
2011 becomes Governor to serve with Republicans controlling both houses
of the Legislature]
2012 Pub.Acts, c. 848, §§ 26, 27, eff. May 15, 2012
2013 Pub.Acts, c. 236, § 35, eff. April 19, 2013
2013 Pub.Acts, c. 270, § 1, eff. July 1, 2013
2014 Pub.Acts, c. 866, § 1
2014 Pub.Acts, c. 866, § 2, eff. Jan. 1, 2016
2015 Pub.Acts, c. 281, §§ 1 to 3, eff. July 1, 2015
2015 Pub.Acts, c. 459, § 5, eff. July 1, 2015
2016 Pub.Acts, c. 736, §§ 1 to 8
2016 Pub.Acts, c. 875, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 2017
2016 Pub.Acts, c. 903, § 1; 2016 Pub.Acts, c. 925, § 1, eff. July 1, 2016
2016 Pub.Acts, c. 1037, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 2017
2017 Pub.Acts, c. 159, § 1, eff. April 24, 2017
2017 Pub.Acts, c. 247, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 2018
2018 Pub.Acts, c. 690, § 1, eff. April 9, 2018
[Note: Bill Lee
was elected Governor in 2018 and took office beginning in 2019. The
Legislature continues under control of a super majority of Republicans]
2018 Pub.Acts, c. 865, § 1, eff. Jan. 1, 2019
2018 Pub.Acts, c. 903, §§ 3, 5, eff. July 1, 2018
2019 Pub.Acts, c. 109, § 1, eff. July 1, 2019
2019 Pub.Acts, c. 345, § 54, eff. May 10, 2019
2019 Pub.Acts, c. 367, § 1
2019 Pub.Acts, c. 396, § 1, eff. July 1, 2019
2019 Pub.Acts, c. 479, §§ 3, 4, eff. Jan. 1, 2020
2020 Pub.Acts, c. 804, § 1, eff. July 15, 2020
2021 Pub.Acts, c. 64, § 46, eff. March 29, 2021
2021 Pub.Acts, c. 108, § 6, eff. July 1, 2021
2021 Pub.Acts, c. 195, § 1, eff. April 22, 2021
2021 Pub.Acts, c. 219, §§ 8, 9, eff. April 22, 2021.
Yet, with
all of the incremental amendments to the handgun carry law since 1994,
we still don’t have real constitutional carry in Tennessee. We are
perhaps a little closer because now we have more available defenses to
the criminal charge of carrying a firearm with the intent to go armed,
but a spectrum of defenses is not the same as the free and full exercise
of a constitutionally protected right.
In 2021 and again in
2022, there is legislation pending that would finally repeal the
statutory scheme which has persistently infringed the right to keep and
bear arms in Tennessee. The question is whether the Legislature will
enact yet another in a long line of incremental, stonewalling laws or
whether it will stand on the oath of office and remove the statutory
infringements on the right to keep and bear arms in Tennessee.
TFA news feed
TFALAC Event
Finally,
the TFALAC (TFA’s political action committee) has set its annual BBQ
lunch and auction for Saturday, September 3, 2022 at the Farm Bureau
Expo Center in Wilson county, Tennessee. Please sign up as sponsors, vendors or purchase your tables and tickets. |
