Does Tennessee Already Have Permitless Firearms Carry, & Not Know It?
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Opinion Does Tennessee Already Have Permitless Firearms Carry, & Not Know It?Tennessee – -(AmmoLand.com)- There have been numerous bills introduced in the Tennessee General Assembly in recent years designed to restore Constitutional/Permitless Carry in Tennessee. Dean Weingarten recently reported in AmmoLand News on the virus shutdown jeopardizing the 2020 Constitutional Carry effort. So far, these bills have never made it out of committee, in spite of having a Republican Supermajority since the 2012 election. Before the Coronavirus pandemic, it appeared that Governor Bill Lee’s Pseudo-Constitutional Carry bill was fast-tracking toward passage in 2020. But here in the middle of April, the General Assembly is in recess, and who knows when it will reconvene. There is an argument to be made, however, that the Tennessee law already supports Constitutional Carry. The argument revolves around the three words, “other lawful activity”. Huh? Other lawful activity appears in at least two places in Tennessee law, with a slight, but significant difference in wording in the two places:
- TCA 39-17-1303, Section (a)(1) defines the unlawful sale, loan or gift of a firearm to a minor. Section (b)(1) states that it is a defense to prosecution under (a)(1) if a firearm “was loaned or given to a minor for the purposes of hunting, trapping, fishing, camping, sport shooting or any other lawful sporting activity… .”
- TCA 39-17-1308 defines defenses to unlawful possession or carrying of a weapon under TCA 39-17-1307 (which creates the offense of carrying a firearm or club with intent to go armed). Section (a)(4) provides a defense against the application of 39-17-1307 if the possession or carrying was “incident to lawful hunting, trapping, fishing, camping, sport shooting or other lawful activity… .