The Tennessee Firearms Association filed an “open records” request in 2023 to obtain copies of the manifesto and other materials seized by the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department related to the murder of six people at the Covenant School in March 2023. That information is a public record and should be available to members of the public particularly when Governor Lee and several Republican legislators immediately started calling for the passage of a Red Flag law in Tennessee. Evidence of why the shooter was motivated to commit these murders is clearly relevant to whether a Red Flag law, even if it might be constitutional, would have made a difference.
Shortly after that lawsuit was filed, as well as at least three similar lawsuits, various entities related to Covenant Church, Covenant School and an unnamed group of Covenant parents moved to intervene or inject themselves in the lawsuit with the apparent claims that the writings, including any “manifesto,” of the shooter should never be released to the public. Some have questions regarding why the Covenant parties have hired approximately 20 attorneys to try and keep the shooter’s manifesto and writing hidden from the public, but that is a topic for another time.
Following the intervention efforts and a delay attributed to an appeal of the trial court’s allowing the Covenant parties to intervene, legislation was filed to fix Tennessee’s open records statute to make clear that the only parties to an open records case should be the individual/entity requesting access to the records and the government entity possessing them.
SB2105/HB2419 by Sen. Gardenhire (chair of the Senate Judiciary) and by Rep. Barrett would simply clarify existing law by stating that proposed interveners have no standing to inject themselves into an open records case in which typically the only issue is whether the documents are open public records and, if so, whether there is an existing exemption that allows the government agency to refuse to produce them or to redact them. SB2105 passed recently in the Senate with the yes vote of every senator in attendance – including the Democrats.
On April 11, 2024, the House Bill version (HB2419) was scheduled to be heard on the House floor. In an unexpected turn of events, the House sponsor asked to reset the bill to be heard on next Thursday’s House calendar. A move like that often indicates that there is a possible amendment being worked out or that there may be significant opposition from the House Republican leadership that could kill the bill if a vote were to be taken. This particularly troubling in a situation where every Senator – all that were present – voted YES!
This is an important change in the law if you are interested in keeping Tennessee’s public records open to public access.
Call or contact your House legislators today and demand their support for this bill. All you need to do is sent this message:
I am one of your constituents. I support Rep. Barrett’s House Bill 2419 and I am requesting that you sign on as a co-sponsor that that you vote for this bill. Please let me know your decision.
John Harris – Executive Director Tennessee Firearms Association
Joining and supporting TFA is an investment in the fight to restore our constitutional rights and to fight against politicians who are willing to sell their votes and your rights to whichever business interest gives them the most money!
