The Tennessee Firearms Association and Tennessee Firearms Foundation joined an amicus brief on Tuesday filed in the U.S. Supreme Court in the appeal by Smith and Wesson in the case Smith & Wesson Brands, Inc. v. Estados Unidos Mexicanos.
The case stems from a lawsuit brought by the Mexican government in 2021, in which the government alleged U.S. gun manufacturers should be liable for “aiding and abetting” gun violence carried out by Mexican drug cartels.
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A spokesman for Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) told The Tennessee Star on Wednesday that Sexton supports the lawsuit brought against the City of Memphis by the Tennessee Firearms Association (TFA) and Gun Owners of America (GOA) over its new gun ordinance that restrict Second Amendment within city limits.
The lawsuit was filed last week after Memphis voters passed legislation to require pistol licenses, impose red flag laws, and ban weapons deemed assault rifles, and Sexton’s spokesman confirmed his support for the lawsuit after the speaker previously promised the Tennessee House of Representatives would withhold Memphis’ share of state sales tax revenue if it imposed the ordinance.
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The Tennessee Firearms Association (TFA) and Gun Owners of America (GOA) on Monday announced their lawsuit against the City of Memphis after voters approved Ordinance 5908, a gun ordinance that requires permits to carry handguns, bans a series of guns determined “assault rifles,” and establishes extreme risk protection orders, or red flag laws, within the city limits.
In their November 13 lawsuit against Memphis, which requests immediate intervention to block the city’s ability to enforce the ordinance, the Second Amendment groups note the Memphis ordinance appears to violate Tennessee Code 39-17-1314(a), which specifically prohibits any Tennessee legislative body other than the General Assembly to regulate firearms or ammunition.
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Founder of the Tennessee Firearms Association and Second Amendment expert John Harris is bringing attention to Tennessee’s law prohibiting the use of deadly force to protect real or personal property.
Harris’ criticism of the statute, Tennessee Code Annotated §§ 39-11-611; 39-11-614, comes as residents in East Tennessee impacted by devastating flash flooding from Hurricane Helene are being warned of an increased possibility that looters may trespass on properties in areas affected by the weather looking for valuable property or essential supplies.
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Pete Hegseth, Fox News host and Tennessee resident, is set to serve as the keynote speaker at the Tennessee Firearms Association Legislative Action Committee’s (TFALAC) annual convention next Saturday at the Farm Bureau Expo Center at the Wilson County Fairgrounds in Lebanon.
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Pete Hegseth, Fox News host and Tennessee resident, will serve as the keynote speaker at the Tennessee Firearms Association Legislative Action Committee’s (TFALAC) annual convention in September, the organization announced Monday.
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Tennessee State Legislature candidates revealed their positions on possible Second Amendment-related legislation in a survey of the candidates conducted by the Tennessee Firearms Association (TFA).
The TFA’s candidate survey consisted of 24 “yes” or “no” questions, asking candidates up for election whether they would vote for hypothetical legislation. Most of the hypothetical bills in question dealt with repealing restrictions on Tennesseans to own and carry firearms. The TFA posted the results on Monday.
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The Tennessee Court of Appeals released a decision in Terry Rainwaters, et al. v. Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, et al. on Thursday, holding a previous ruling that found a state statute that allows TWRA to patrol private properties without warrants or consent to be unconstitutional.
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The Tennessee Firearms Association (TFA) is joining a lawsuit with several states and pro-Second Amendment groups against the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), which says that the ATF far too broadly interpreting a new law passed by Congress regarding private gun sales.
The lawsuit stems from the definition of the term “‘Engaged in the Business’ as a Dealer in Firearms,” and claims that the ATF is angling to make citizens who sell even one firearm privately subject to licensure that large firearms sellers must obtain, according to a release from TFA.
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Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell is standing by his man, Metro Law Director Wally Dietz, and his suspect claim that a court order prohibits the release of the Covenant Killer’s manifesto.
“To be clear: I’m not intent on withholding anything, but I’m not going to violate the best understanding I have of what the law is,” the mayor told The Tennessee Star in responding to questions about Dietz’s controversial assertions.
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While much of the legacy media attacks the messenger, conservative commentator Steven Crowder wants to know why major news outlets haven’t been more diligent in going after Covenant School Killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale’s manifesto.
The host of the Louder with Crowder podcast this week published photos of three pages from Hale’s prolific writings, which the Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation have blocked from public release.
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A three-judge appeals court panel on Monday heard oral arguments in a First Amendment lawsuit seeking the release of the manifesto and related writings of the Covenant School killer.
The judges will determine whether a lower court erred in allowing Nashville’s Covenant Presbyterian Church, its elementary school and parents of students there to intervene in the lawsuit, brought by the parent company of The Tennessee Star, the Tennessee Firearms Association, The Tennessean, and others.
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The Tennessee Court of Appeals is scheduled to hear oral arguments Monday afternoon in The Tennessee Star’s lawsuit demanding the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County release the Covenant School killer’s manifesto and related records.
The court is weighing whether to overturn Davidson County Judge I’Ashea Myles’ ruling to allow Covenant Presbyterian School parents, staff and others to intervene in the lawsuit and argue why the manifesto should remain locked away from the public.
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Donald Trump Jr. served as the keynote speaker at the Tennessee Firearms Association Legislative Action Committee’s (TFALAC) annual convention on Saturday at the Wilson County Fairgrounds in Lebanon.
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On August 25, 2023, Tennessee Firearms Association (TFA) joined again with Gun Owners of America GOA) in the effort to defeat the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms’ (ATF) unconstitutional expansion of the Congressional definition of a “frame or receiver”. The brief was filed in the case of Jennifer VanDerStok, et al. v. Merrick Garland, et. al. Fifth Circuit 23:10718.
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The Tennessee Firearms Association executive director told the Influence Watch podcast he is shocked that Volunteer State’s Republican Gov. Bill Lee called a special election, so he could exploit the Covenant School shooting to pass so-called red flag laws.
“In March of this year, there was a school shooting at a place called Covenant School in Nashville, where three adults and three children were killed by a 28-year-old female who reportedly had been a student at the school in her past,” said John Harris, a Nashville attorney, who founded the TFA in 1995.
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Months ago, while the Legislature was still in its regular session, Governor Lee asked them to enact his Red Flag law which was his immediate, some might say knee-jerk – response to the Covenant School murders. The Legislature rejected that request, deferred almost all remaining 2nd Amendment legislation to 2024 and instead adjourned. Before most of them could get home, Governor Lee announced that he was going to call them back into a special legislative session to consider and pass his Red Flag proposal.
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Governor Bill Lee has issued a proclamation calling for a special legislative session to take up gun-control measures, including a controversial “red flag” bill that many of his GOP allies in the Republican-controlled Tennessee General Assembly say is a non-starter.
The long-expected proclamation was apparently leaked to the liberal Tennessee Lookout late Thursday afternoon before it’s official release.
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While the Federal Bureau of Investigation is fighting any release of the Covenant killer’s manifesto in federal court, an official with the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department says the local law enforcement agency would not object to a redacted release of some of the documents.
The problem could be just how law enforcement officials define “redactions.”
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Attorney John Harris joined host Michael Patrick Leahy in studio on Tuesday’s edition of The Tennessee Star Report to discuss the state of the court case to release the Covenant Killer Manifesto between Tennessee Firearms Association, Metro Nashville, the Covenant School, and many others. TRANSCRIPT Michael Patrick Leahy: 6:06 AM broadcasting live from our studios on Music Crow in Nashville, Tennessee. We’ll be joined in-studio at 6:30 AM by the official guest host of The Tennessee Star Report, Aaron Gulbransen. We’ll talk about the Sound of Freedom movie and, and also what the Tennessee Faith and Freedom Coalition is up to these days. In-studio right now, our very good friend for many years, the executive director of the Tennessee Firearms Association, John Harris. John, we left a hanging chad and the hanging chad which I looked at you with a bit of incredulity. You like that word? John Harris: I do. Michael Patrick Leahy: The word of the day. “Incredulity.” You said that the state case where a number of plaintiffs including the Tennessee Firearms Association, which you represent as an attorney, and me individually and The Tennessee Star represented by America First Legal – that state case may not…
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Attorney, founder of the Tennessee Firearms Association, and Second Amendment expert John Harris joined The Tennessee Star Report’s Michael Patrick Leahy in studio Wednesday to discuss the upcoming special session proposed – but not yet formally called by – Gov. Bill Lee. TRANSCRIPT Michael Patrick Leahy: In studio right now, our very good friend, John Harris – founder and executive director of the Tennessee Firearms Association. The word of the day, John, is “clarity.” Clarity. Okay, so I made fun of Governor Lee for his clear-as-mud statement in regards to the release of the Covenant Killer’s Manifesto. There’s no way you can understand exactly what he was trying to say there. It’s incomprehensible. Now, let’s take that thought and put it aside for a moment. The governor has stated publicly that he’s gonna call a special session of the Tennessee General Assembly on August 21st to deal with the issue of quote, “public safety” – translation: “red flag law” – to limit the Second Amendment rights of Tennesseans. He, I think, has used the same concept of “clarity” in developing the details of his proposal, and it’s not going over very well at all with members of the Tennessee General…
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Second Amendment expert and Tennessee Firearms Association Executive Director John Harris continued his Monday interview with The Tennessee Star Report’s Michael Patrick Leahy to outline the requirements and limitations of Governor Bill Lee regarding a proposed special session in August, along with a warning about scenario that could result in red flag legislation passing both chambers of the legislature.
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The Tennessee Court of Appeals in Nashville has agreed to expedite an appeal that will determine who is allowed to intervene in a lawsuit seeking the release of the Covenant School killer’s manifesto — a move that will push a July 12 show cause hearing into August.
“Until the appeal regarding the intervention is resolved, there is no way to know who the parties in the underlying action will be to participate in the show cause hearing,” the court wrote. “Without a stay of the trial court proceedings, this appeal would be rendered moot or the parties may be forced to conduct a new show cause hearing depending on the results of the appeal.”
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Parents of two of the children murdered in the Covenant School massacre are joining others in asking Davidson County Chancellor I’Ashea Myles to keep the Covenant killer’s manifesto and related documents locked from public view.
The mother of William Kinney and the parents of Evelyn Dieckhaus, two of three 9-year-olds fatally shot in the March 27 mass shootings, issued declaration letters to the court detailing the pain they’ve suffered and lambasting the news outlets and other organizations suing to have the records released.
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Tennessee’s House Majority Whip Johnny Garrett (R-Goodlettsville) told The Tennessee Star Thursday that he has spoken directly to Gov. Bill Lee (R) and that he will not be supporting Lee’s agenda to implement red flag laws during the upcoming special session of the General Assembly.
“There is no red flag proposal from Gov. Lee to consider as our caucus will not support the destruction of our citizens’ constitutional rights,” said Garrett. “I have been in contact with the governor and have expressed the desire to address mental illness through treatment and resources for those who may be a threat to themselves and others. These conversations will continue, and we’ll determine the best ways we can help these individuals in crisis while improving public safety in communities across our state.”
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While the Covenant School killer’s parents consider their daughter’s deadly manifesto “intellectual property” and suggest anyone who publishes the documents could face legal damages, records experts say the threat is more legal posturing in a nationally watched public records lawsuit.
But the latest legal twist in the court battle over Audrey Elizabeth Hale’s journals, written notes, memoirs and related writings is an attempt to take a “wrecking ball” to Tennessee’s public records law, one open government expert told The Tennessee Star.
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Asking the court to “shield” Covenant Presbyterian School students from a “lifetime of abuse and harassment by the shooter from beyond the grave,” a new court filing lays out why parents of the children don’t want the Covenant killer’s manifesto and other writings made public.
Davidson County Chancellor I’Ashea Myles last week ruled that the Covenant Presbyterian Church, its private elementary school and the parents of the schoolchildren may intervene in a lawsuit seeking the manifesto and related writings of mass shooter Audrey Elizabeth Hale.
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In the days following the horrifying shootings at Nashville’s Covenant Presbyterian School, police said the killer, Audrey Elizabeth Hale, acted “totally alone.”
Hale, a 28-year-old woman who identified as a transgender man named “Aiden,” was killed by police 14 minutes after her deadly rampage began. Before she was neutralized, Hale had taken the lives of three 9-year-olds and three staff members at the private Christian school she once attended as a child.
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We learned this week that Metro Nashville’s lawyers deliberately attempted to slow down court proceedings on the lawsuit seeking the release of the Covenant Killer’s manifesto and related documents.
Such delay tactics raise an important question: Is the city government colluding with the Covenant Presbyterian School and families of the private Christian elementary school to keep the records from the public?
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Davidson County Chancellor I’Ashea Myles heard plenty of opinions Monday — many of them dripping with emotion — on a consolidated lawsuit seeking the release of the Covenant School Killer’s manifesto and related writings.
Myles is expected to issue an order on Wednesday deciding whether Covenant Presbyterian School parents, the private Christian school and the Covenant Presbyterian Church can intervene in the lawsuit.
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Metropolitan Nashville Police Department Assistant Chief Mike Hagar claims there is an “active” investigation into the Covenant Presbyterian School shootings and that releasing the Covenant killer’s manifesto and related writings would be harmful. A lieutenant with the police department says it could take up to a year to complete said invetigation.
In a sworn declaration, Hagar said he is not opposed to the release of a redacted version of the documents.
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Parents of the three children killed in the Covenant Presbyterian School shootings are now seeking to intervene in lawsuits demanding the release of the Covenant killer’s manifesto and related documents.
And The Tennessee Star learned Davidson County Chancellor I’Ashea Myles rescheduled Thursday’s conference status meeting on the lawsuits for 1 p.m. Monday. It’s yet another delay in an increasingly complex web of lawsuits, consolidations, and interventions over the mass shooter’s writings.
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Attorneys for the Covenant Presbyterian Church have filed a motion to intervene in Star News Digital Media Inc.’s lawsuit seeking the immediate release of the manifesto and related documents of Audrey Elizabeth Hale, the transgender killer behind the March 27 mass shootings at the private elementary school.
The 20th Circuit Court-Davidson County will hold a hearing on the motion to intervene, which seeks to protect the Covenant Presbyterian Church’s “interests relating to the release of records sought in this matter.” The court set a hearing for 9 a.m. May 26.
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Davidson County Chancellor I’Ashea Myles is reviewing the unredacted and proposed redacted journal and other writings of the Covenant School killer ahead of Thursday’s scheduled status conference meeting, sources with knowledge of the case tell The Tennessee Star.
Myles has scheduled a Show Cause hearing for June 8 on the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department’s refusal to turnover what has commonly been referred to as the “manifesto” of Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who stormed into Nashville’s Covenant Presbyterian School on March 27 and fatally killed three 9-year-olds and three staff members.
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The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Metropolitan Nashville Police Department have refused to release the manifesto and related documents of the Covenant School killer, citing spurious reasons for their denials.
But is a shadowy Department of Justice unit billing itself as “America’s peacemaker” behind the information freeze? Some say the disclosure dance has all the markings of the Community Relations Service.
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Star News Digital Media Inc., parent company of The Tennessee Star, is suing the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County seeking the release of Covenant School killer Audrey Elizabeth Hale’s manifesto.
The lawsuit, filed in Tennessee’s 20th Judicial District Court-Davidson County, follows on the heels of Star News Digital Media’s federal lawsuit demanding the FBI turn over the documents that law enforcement officials have kept locked away from the public for more than six weeks.
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The judge hearing lawsuits demanding the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department release the Covenant School killer’s manifesto has pushed back a show cause hearing on the litigation as MNPD attempts to maneuver around Tennessee’s public record laws.
It appears the police department and its attorneys are going to try to bury the plaintiffs — and the court — in paper.
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In a legal twist, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD) now says it will not release the Covenant School killer’s manifesto and related documents because of pending litigation — lawsuits demanding the department turn over the records.
“Covenant investigation update: Due to pending litigation filed this week, the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department has been advised by counsel to hold in abeyance the release of records related to the shooting at The Covenant School pending orders or direction of the court,” MNPD stated in a tweet Wednesday morning.
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The National Police Association has filed a lawsuit against the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County demanding the release of the Covenant School killer’s manifesto.
And The Tennessee Star has just learned that Tennessee 20th Judicial District Chancery Court Judge I’Ashea Myles has ordered a show cause hearing for May 11, examining whether the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD) has failed to comply with public records laws.
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The Tennessee Firearms Association is asking a state court to order the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department to turn over the Covenant School killer’s manifesto — documents law enforcement have kept from the public more than a month after Audrey Elizabeth Hale stormed into the private Covenant Presbyterian School and killed three 9-year-olds and three adults.
In a lawsuit filed Monday, the TFA and former Hamilton County Sheriff James Hammond request the 20th Judicial District, Chancery Court, in Davidson County to grant the organization access to the manifesto. The complaint also seeks an order from the court finding the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County’s denial of TFA’s records requests is unlawful.
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Governor Bill Lee announced Friday that he will call for the Tennessee General Assembly to convene a special session in order to “pass legislation that will strengthen public safety and preserve constitutional rights.”
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On April 19, 2023, reports are suddenly surfacing that Governor Bill Lee has released a 13 page bill that would substantially change Tennessee’s criminal code and mental health codes to implement a “Red Flag” law. The proposed amendment which was released this afternoon does not indicate which bills are being amended, who the sponsors are, when the bill would be heard in a committee or give anyone outside of government the opportunity to review, comment on or oppose the legislation. (The entire amendment is on the TFA’s news post) It is the typical move of a tyrant.
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In yet another protest in favor of gun control, recently embattled State Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville) attempted to bring a child-sized casket into the Tennessee House Chamber, before he was forced to drop the prop.
“The rally made it inside the Capitol going through security,” News Channel 5’s Kelsey Gibbs reported. “Rep. Justin Jones and Bishop Barber are trying to enter the chamber with a casket. The sergeant of arms went to check and tells them they can’t bring the casket inside the House chamber.”
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The Executive Director of the Tennessee Firearms association said Friday that Gov. Bill Lee (R), who has asked the legislature to deliver him a proposed”Red Flag Law,” which he calls an “Order of Protection” law, is treading on dangerous Constitutional grounds.
“It is not clear why Governor Bill Lee, who claims to support the Second Amendment, would propose a Red Flag law at this time. The circumstances indicate potentially two reasons,” John Harris told The Tennessee Star. “First, the Covenant School shooting fatalities have generated a public emotional response – something that he referenced in his April 11 statement. Second, activists Democrat state legislators are making a demand that more gun control be enacted now.”
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In a Monday press conference, Gov. Bill Lee (R) suggested that some people labeled as “threats” should not be able to own firearms.
“What I expect is that there will be an opportunity to look at legislation [from] around the country, at ways that we can in fact do that very thing, which is mak[ing] sure that those who are a threat to our people, to our children, do not have access to weapons, protecting the constitutional rights of Tennesseans at the same time,” said Lee.
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In 2016 Tennessee passed two new statutes with bi-partisan support that addressed the issue of whether Tennessee’s private schools, both K-12 and “higher education,” could establish their own policies with respect to whether and to what extent civilian possession of firearms would be prohibited on their campuses. These laws are codified at Tennessee Code Annotated Sections 49-50-803 and 49-7-161.
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Wednesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed John Harris, the founder and CEO of Tennessee Firearms association to the newsmaker line to comment on the Tennessee General Assembly’s lack of awareness of the Second Amendment.
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Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed the CEO of the Tennessee Firearms Association, John Harris in studio to discuss his recent article which poses a hypothetical case of justifiable self-defense in relation to the murder of Tyre Nichols in Memphis.
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Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed the CEO of the Tennessee Firearms Association, John Harris in studio to comment upon the body cam video of Tyre Nichols who was murdered Thursday evening by five Memphis police officers.
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The Tennessee Firearms Association (TFA) is looking for plaintiffs to take part in a possible lawsuit against the state of Tennessee pertaining to the state’s gun-free zones.
A lawsuit is being prepared for filing in state court against the State of Tennessee that will address gun-free zones and whether those zones violate the constitution, according to the TFA.
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