Last week, the 2014 session of the Tennessee General Assembly convened. Right out of the gate, a number of pro-gun and pro-hunting bills have been introduced. Your NRA-ILA will keep you up-to-date as these bills make their way through the legislative process. Those bills of interest to law-abiding gun owners and hunters in the Volunteer State are below:
House Bill 1407/Senate Bill 1496 – sponsored by state Representative Tilman Goins (R-10) and state Senator Stacey Campfield (R-7), these companion bills would allow for a handgun carry permit holder to carry lawfully a firearm in all state, county and municipal parks.
House Bill 1399/Senate Bill 1612 – sponsored by state Representative Judd Matheny (R-47) and state Senator Mark Green (R-22), these companion bills would strengthen the state’s current firearms preemption statute by giving all authority, in regards to firearms laws and regulations, to the General Assembly.
House Bill 1480/Senate Bill 1774 – sponsored by state Representative Jeremy Faison (R-11) and state Senator Mike Bell (R-9), these companion bills would allow a law-abiding gun owner to carry a firearm in his or her own vehicle without a handgun carry permit (HCP).
House Bill 1483 – sponsored by state Representative Debra Moody (R-81), HB 1483 would remove all grandfathered ordinances and resolutions passed before April 8, 1986 with regards to the prohibition or regulation of possession, transportation or storage of firearms and firearm ammunition by HCP holders.
House Bill 1404/Senate Bill 1700 – sponsored by state Representative Sheila Butt (R-64) and state Senator Mark Green (R-22), these companion bills state that incidental exposure of a firearm during the course of securing that firearm in a locked vehicle does not violate state law with regards to having a firearm in a locked vehicle on an employer’s parking lot.
House Bill 1405/Senate Bill 1701 – sponsored by state Representative Courtney Rogers (R-45) and state Senator Mark Green (R-22), these companion bills would redefine “motor vehicle” under Tennessee’s parking lot law to include all vehicles lawfully possessed by the permit holder with the exception of government or business owned vehicles.
House Bill 1400/Senate Bill 1672 – sponsored by state Representative Goins (R-10) and state Senator Steve Southerland (R-1), these companion bills would extend the expiration date of a Tennessee HCP from four to five years.
House Bill 1389 – sponsored by Representative Faison (R-11), HB 1389 would require that a purchaser and licensed firearms dealer only conduct one background check when purchasing multiple firearms from a licensed firearms dealer at the same time.
Senate Bill 1777 – sponsored by state Senator Mike Bell (R-9), SB 1777 would add onto Tennessee’s current hunter harassment laws and would prohibit anti-hunting extremists from using drones to interfere with those lawfully involved with hunting or fishing.
Please continue checking the NRA-ILA website (www.nraila.org) for updates on these and other Second Amendment-related bills as they progress through the Tennessee General Assembly.
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