A state court struck down two gun-carry restrictions Friday in a move hailed by one lawmaker as “something to celebrate” while another said the ruling would put “Tennesseans at greater risk.”
A three-judge panel in Gibson County said the state’s rules against going armed and its ban on carrying guns in public parks were unconstitutional.
The court battle began in 2023 when plaintiffs from Gun Owners of America, Inc. and the Gun Owners Foundation sued Gov. Bill Lee, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, state commissioners, attorneys general for Crockett, Gibson, and Haywood Counties, and the sheriff of Gibson County.
They argued the two state statutes violated the state and federal constitutions and make it, basically, illegal to carry firearms in public. After hearings and motions over the intervening years, the court agreed last week. They said both laws violated the Second Amendment and declared them “unconstitutional, void, and of no effect.”
Tennessee state law says “a person commits an offense who carries, with the intent to go armed, a firearm or a club.” The gun groups argued this criminalizes the open carry of firearms and violated the Second Amendment.
State law also bans weapons “in or on the grounds of any public park, playground, civic center, or other building facility” owned or operated by a local, county, or state government, for recreational purposes. The judges spent much time splitting hairs over differences in parks, schools, polling places, and more. But in the end, they simply leaned back on the Second Amendment.
“The Constitution itself is, of course, not ‘trapped in amber,’” the judges said in their ruling. “But we are not the ones authorized to change it.”
So, does this make Tennessee a constitutional carry state? That was the question posed in a blog post by John Harris for the Tennessee Firearms Association on Friday. His short answer: probably yes.
“The declaration that the ‘intent to go armed’ statute is unconstitutional, which rendered it void, that potentially entirely transforms Tennessee to a state that as a general premise no longer makes it a crime for an individual to carry a firearm [or other weapon] merely to be armed,” Harris wrote. “This declaration, assuming the government tyrants do not appeal, is fundamentally transitional and restorative.”
State Rep. Jody Barrett (R-Dickson) used the decision as a hook for a social media post Monday to remind voters he is seeking the Congressional seat left vacant by U.S. Rep. Mark Green (TN-7). He said the legislature should have done away with the laws “long ago” but couldn’t even “with a ruby-red supermajority.”
“So now, Second Amendment advocates, lawful gun owners in Tennessee, we finally have a big win,” Barrett said on X. “This is something to celebrate …
“So, go out, fire off some rounds this afternoon after work at the range. Go share with your buddies and let them know good things are coming to Tennessee when it comes to the Second Amendment.”
Barett also said he fought against red flag laws in the special session. He came back after, he said, and sponsored (and, ultimately, helped pass) legislation so that “all these liberal cities can’t start creating their own red flag laws all across the state and seeking ways to take your guns from you.”
Sen. London Lamar (D-Memphis) said the ruling will deepen Tennessee’s public safety crisis.
“This ruling puts Tennesseans at greater risk by tying the hands of law enforcement officers who encounter people who are armed and potentially dangerous,” Lamar said in a statement. “If police can no longer investigate someone for the intent to go armed, officers are left waiting until a crime has already been committed — a failed public safety policy that puts lives on the line.
Lamar said Tennessee now has the highest violent crime rate in the South, pointing to data from The Council of State Governments’ Justice Center.
“And here’s the hypocrisy: the same Republicans who keep loosening our gun laws want to turn around and punish people for the violence their policies are fueling,” Lamar said.
