by Jon Styf
A bill that would allow those 18 years old and older to concealed carry and obtain a permit in Tennessee now has different versions moving through the Senate and House.
House Bill 1005 lowers the age of permits to 18 and changes the term handgun to firearm in Tennessee code. The bill, sponsored by Rep. Chris Todd, R-Madison County, is aimed at matching a court agreement between the Firearms Policy Coalition and Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti following FPC’s lawsuit against Tennessee’s current law, which restricts through between ages 18 and 21 from receiving permits.
That court agreement was approved by a judge in mid-March.
Senate Bill 1503 had an amendment added this week from Sen. Brent Taylor, R-Memphis, in the Senate Judiciary Committee that will prevent long guns from being openly carried.
Senate sponsor John Stevens, R-Huntingdon, said the legislation is also aimed at being in line with the United States Supreme Court ruling in New York State Rifle v. Bruen.
“In Bruen, the Court was clear that the constitutional right to bear arms is a right that pre-exists our nation,” Stevens said. “The right of self-defense is not a right granted by government. It was given to us by our Creator. The Founders preserved that right in the Second Amendment.”
Tennessee’s Department of Safety and Homeland Security has previously opposed portions of the bill, including when the House passed a bill last year to low the permit and carry age to 18 and it was not passed by the Senate.
But Elizabeth Stroecker, Director of Legislation for the Department of Safety and Homeland Security, said the department did not oppose the legislation if the amendment was added.
The bill was approved and will next be heard by the Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee. In the House, its version of the bill was put on a special Driver’s License Calendar in the Finance, Ways and Means Committee.
If competing bills pass in the different bodies and agreement cannot be reached, a conference committee will be created on the matter.
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Jon Styf is an award-winning editor and reporter of The Center Square who has worked in Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, Florida and Michigan in local newsrooms over the past 20 years, working for Shaw Media, Hearst and several other companies.
Photo “Chris Todd” by Chris Todd for State Representative. Photo “Brent Taylor” by Senator Brent Taylor. Background Photo “Tennessee State Capitol” by Andre Porter. CC BY-SA 3.0.
We can only hope they are more responsible with firearms ownership than they are behind the wheel.
I find it interesting that 18 year olds will be able to carry concealed, yet they are barred at the federal level from purchasing a handgun. Does that mean there will be an increase in “straw purchases”? Same thing with handgun caliber ammunition. But that is IMO a bogus law as so many handgun calibers are also chambered in long guns.
As an interesting note; from what I have read in the news over the last few years there are a significantly lower number of injuries or deaths from negligent discharges from firearms in Tennessee that in the state I previously resided, Vermont. In Vermont the usual behavior that lead to injury (multiple times yearly) was from someone (idiot) who removed the magazine from a semi-automatic pistol thinking it was unloaded, while in actuality there was still a round in the chamber. I like to believe that Tennessee parents teach firearms safety to their children at an early age.