The Tennessee Legislature, as a whole, remains largely devoid of the capacity to live under the Supreme Court’s ruling in New York State Rifle and Pistol Association v. Bruen, No. 20-843. That includes a general and painfully concerning unwillingness to address the “Bruen Basis” for any proposed legislation whether it is perceived to be good or bad under the Second Amendment.
In Bruen, the Supreme Court make to make it abundantly clear that the only exception to the Second Amendment’s “shall not be infringed” prohibition on government action that impacts the rights protected by the Second Amendment would be restrictions which are identical to or close analogues to restrictions that were part of the nation’s historical tradition as of 1791 when the Second Amendment was adopted.
In Bruen, the Supreme Court unequivocally placed the burden on the government, which here would be the Legislators who are proposing or even voting in favor of a bill, to demonstrate that the legislation satisfies the Court’s 1791 “national historical tradition” standard. This week, the Bruen Basis was in fact raised by Committee Chairman Bud Hulsey regarding House Bill 1640 by Rep. William Lamberth although Rep. Lamberth did not identify even a single example of a state that had, as of 1791, a law that did what his proposed legislation in 2024 would do. Perhaps Rep. Lamberth will do so as his legislation moves forward.
Attached hereto is a list of the bills that had any Legislative activity during the week of February 5, 2024. We are also attaching a calendar report of all the bills that we are tracking which are scheduled for committee hearings the week of February 12, 2024.
Contact your legislators as well as the bill sponsors and committee members (see Calendar report) with your position or questions about these bills.
John Harris | Executive Director Tennessee Firearms Association
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