Tennessee Court Strikes Gun-Carry Ban, AG Appeals

We informed you earlier this month about how a Tennessee court overturned two state laws that restricted the carry of firearms for defensive purposes. Now, proponents of the laws are pitching a fit, and the state’s attorney general is appealing the ruling.

On August 22, a three-judge panel of the Gibson County Chancery Court ruled that the law that bans carry in state parks and another law that allowed police to stop those carrying a firearm without any criminal intent or cause.

“This statute makes the entire state a ‘gun-free’ zone” for those members and supporters, the ruling stated.

Gun Owners of America (GOA) is warning that what had been accomplished through the court case could be undone quickly because of Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti’s appeal.

“His office claims that allowing the ruling to stand would create ‘unnecessary confusion and risk,’” GOA said in a news release announcing the appeal. “GOA stands firm in saying that there isn’t anything confusing or risky about it.”

As GOA explained, the “Going Armed” statute was an outdated leftover from Tennessee’s 19th-century criminal code that effectively made it a crime to carry a firearm for self-defense, unless you fit within narrow exceptions later carved out by permit laws. The “Parks” statute banned otherwise lawful carry in local, state, and federal parks, turning ordinary citizens into criminals for exercising their rights in public places that should never have been off-limits.

“Dragging this case through the appellate courts for years will not only waste taxpayer dollars and delay justice for law-abiding Tennesseans, but it will also disregard Gun Owners of America’s and Gun Owners Foundation’s hard work as plaintiffs in the case,” GOA wrote.

Still, Tennessee anti-gunners, including Democrat state Sen. Landon Lamar, are speaking out against the ruling and in favor of the appeal, saying it makes the state “less safe.”

“If the lower court’s ruling is allowed to stand, it will tie the hands of police officers—even when they encounter someone with a loaded assault rifle parked outside a children’s park,” Lamar said in a released statement. “Officers wouldn’t even be allowed to question that person’s intent until it’s too late. That’s not freedom. That’s a recipe for tragedy.”

Lamar blamed Republicans, saying they have long “pandered to the gun lobby,” resulting in Tennessee’s high violent crime rate.

“We cannot keep sacrificing public safety for political favors to the gun industry,” he said. “This appeal is necessary—and it’s about more than defending a law. It’s about defending the right of every Tennessean to feel safe in their own community.”

Ultimately, GOA is asking its members and other interested Tennessee gun owners to call AG Skrmetti and ask him to drop the appeal.