Tennessee: NRA-Supported Constitutional Carry Legislation on the Move in Nashville

Constitutional Carry legislation is advancing through the Tennessee General Assembly and your lawmakers need to hear from you!  Next Tuesday, the House Constitutional Protections and Sentencing Subcommittee will hear House Bill 2817.  The following week on March 17, the Senate Finance, Ways and Means Committee will hear the companion bill, Senate Bill 2671.  Please contact committee members and ask them to SUPPORT Senate Bill 2671 and House Bill 2817!

Senate Bill 2671 / House Bill 2817 ensures that no honest, hard-working Tennessean is left defenseless while waiting for government permission to carry a firearm.  This legislation fully recognizes the right of law-abiding gun owners to carry a firearm for self-defense, giving Tennesseans the freedom to choose the best method of carrying for themselves.

Again, please click the “Take Action” button to contact committee members in support of Senate Bill 2671 / House Bill 2817!

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Background Facts on Constitutional Carry

Fact: Sixteen states – Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Kentucky, West Virginia, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine – already allow law-abiding individuals to carry a concealed handgun without a government-issued permit. (Montana allows Constitutional Carry for all areas outside city limits – 99.4% of the state.)

Fact: Constitutional Carry simply allows a person who is otherwise legally able to possess and carry a firearm to do so in a discreet, concealed manner.

Fact: Constitutional Carry does not change prohibited person laws or any law governing the misuse of a firearm (illegal brandishing, discharge, threatening, etc.), prohibited places where a firearm cannot be carried, or when force may be used in defense of self or others.

Fact: Private property owners still maintain discretion over their own property, including whether and on what terms to allow firearms.

Fact: Criminals already carry concealed firearms without regard for the law. Constitutional carry legislation backed by the NRA isn't for criminals, it simply puts the law-abiding on equal footing.

Fact: Constitutional Carry gives criminals a reason to fear that any potential victim could be armed and disincentivizes criminal conduct.

Fact: States that adopt Constitutional Carry laws still retain their concealed carry permitting process for gun owners who wish to take advantage of concealed carry reciprocity with other states.