Where does gun legislation stand in Tennessee one year after Covenant School shooting?

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — One year ago, tragedy struck Nashville when an armored shooter entered the halls of The Covenant School and killed three adults and three children.

In the weeks following the shooting, calls for stricter gun laws echoed throughout the state, but the Republican supermajority in the Tennessee General Assembly has seen those calls fall on deaf ears.

An attempt to pass an extreme risk protection order (ERPO) law from Gov. Bill Lee during a special session on public safety in August was dead in the water after significant pushback from Republicans in both the House and the Senate.

Both Democrats and Republicans have filed gun legislation on items such as increasing penalties for firearm thefts, safe storage laws, taxes on gun purchases, and regulation of gun sales. Some are still making their way through committee, while others were quickly disposed of with little discussion.

Here is where other gun-related legislation stands as lawmakers wind down the last weeks of the 113th General Assembly.

The Covenant School Shooting 1 year later

HB1574/SB1564: Allows a court to issue a risk protection order upon a finding of clear and convincing evidence that a person poses a significant danger of causing personal injury to the person or others if allowed to possess or purchase a firearm; authorizes a law enforcement officer or a relative to petition for the risk protection order

Assigned to House Civil Justice Subcommittee; Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee

HB1576/SB1567: Requires a sale or transfer of a firearm be done through a federally licensed gun dealer; creates a Class B misdemeanor offense for sales or transfers not done through a gun dealer

Assigned to House Civil Justice Subcommittee; Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee

HB1579/SB1569: Prohibits the sale or purchase of an assault weapon as a Class A misdemeanor; defines assault weapon

Assigned to House Civil Justice Subcommittee; Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee

HB1583/SB2948: Requires someone who owns a gun in Tennessee to have liability insurance of at least $300,000 to insure against losses or damages from accidental use of their gun; requires documentation of said policy be produced in the event someone suffers losses or damages from the accidental use of the gun; specifies violations of this law are Class C misdemeanors punishable only by fines up to $300

Failed in House Insurance Subcommittee; Referred to Senate Delayed Bills Committee

HB1586/SB2951: Allows a law enforcement officer to petition for an ERPO if, after notice of a hearing on the petition, the court finds by clear and convincing evidence that the person poses a significant danger of causing personal injury to themselves or others by purchasing or possessing a firearm

Placed on the House Civil Justice Subcommittee for April 2, 2024; Referred to Senate Delayed Bills Committee

HB1587/SB2952: Prohibits the manufacture of semi-automatic rifles in this state; specifics that a violation of this prohibition is a Class A misdemeanor

Action deferred in House Criminal Justice Subcommittee until April 2, 2024; Referred to Senate Delayed Bills Committee

RELATED | Covenant School Mass Shooting Continuing Coverage

HB1588/SB2953: Prohibits the storage of a firearm or firearm ammunition in a motor vehicle unless the firearm or ammunition is not plainly observable and either the owner is present in the vehicle or the firearm or ammunition is inside a locked compartment; Authorizes a civil penalty of up to $500 per violation

Placed on House Civil Justice Subcommittee for April 2, 2024; Referred to Senate Delayed Bills Committee

HB1591/SB2956: creates an offense to store or keep a firearm in any place unless the firearm is secured in a locked container, unloaded, and separate from ammunition so as to render the firearm inoperable by any person other than the owner or another lawfully authorized user except when the firearm is carried by or under the control of the owner or other lawfully authorized user; exempts a juvenile who is knowingly in a mental health crisis to use a defense to prosecution for illegally possessing a handgun

Placed on House Civil Justice Subcommittee calendar for April 2, 2024; Referred to Senate Delayed Bills Committee

HB1595/SB2960: Creates a committee to study the impacts of gun violence in communities in Tennessee, prioritizing those that are of lower socioeconomic status and who have been disproportionately impacted by gun violence

Action deferred in House Criminal Justice Subcommittee until April 2, 2024; Referred to Senate Delayed Bills Committee

HB1596/SB2961: Prohibits a gun dealer from delivering a firearm to a purchaser until 15 business days after the completion of certain requirements

Action deferred in House Criminal Justice Subcommittee until April 2, 2024; Referred to Senate Delayed Bills Committee

HB1600/SB2911: Prohibits the purchase or possession of a firearm by a person under 25 if they were previously adjudicated delinquent for an act that, if committed by an adult, would have constituted certain crimes; allows the TBI access to juvenile court records for the limited purpose of performing a background check prior to the purchase or transfer of a firearm to determine whether a person has been adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental health institution at 16 years of age or older, or is prohibited from purchasing a firearm because of a delinquent adjudication

Action deferred in House Criminal Justice Subcommittee until April 2, 2024; Referred to Senate Delayed Bills Committee

HB1640/SB1769: Expands definition of “adjudication as a mental defective” to include a person who has been found incompetent to stand trial in a criminal proceeding and requires court clerks to collect and report any such finding to the FBI-NCIS index and the TN Dept. of Safety; establishes a rebuttable presumption that a person who has been charged with a criminal offense and found incompetent to stand trial poses a substantial likelihood of serious harm; prohibits the purchase or possession of a firearm by a person who has been adjudicated as a mental defective

Placed behind the budget; Referred to House Finance, Ways, and Means Committee; Referred to Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee

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HB1667/SB1695: Authorizes local governments to regulate the storage of a firearm in a motor vehicle when the vehicle is unoccupied; applies in counties having a population greater than 98,800, according to the 2020 or subsequent census

Action deferred in House Civil Justice Subcommittee until April 2, 2024; Failed in Senate Judiciary Committee

HB1713/SB1654: Creates Class A misdemeanor of knowingly giving, selling, lending, delivering or otherwise transferring a firearm to a person when the transferor knows or reasonably should know that the person receiving the firearm is prohibited from purchasing or possessing a firearm under state or federal law

Assigned to House Criminal Justice Subcommittee; Failed in Senate Judiciary Committee

HB1720/SB2574: Increases from a Class E and Class D to a Class C felony the classification of theft of a firearm valued at less than $60,000 and related offenses; specifies that it is a Class C felony to receive, possess, store, barter, sell, transfer, or dispose of a stolen firearm or firearm ammunition

Action deferred in House Criminal Justice Subcommittee until April 2, 2024; Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee until April 4, 2024

HB1728/SB1729: Expands the offense of aggravated stalking to include persons who purchase a semi-automatic rifle or attempt to use a semi-automatic rifle for the course and furtherance of stalking

Action deferred in House Criminal Justice Subcommittee until April 2, 2024; Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee

HB1738/SB1685: Authorizes the governor to expand Medicaid eligibility solely for the purpose of providing gun violence prevention services

Assigned to House Insurance Subcommittee; Failed in Senate Commerce and Labor Committee for lack of a second

HB1784/SB1702: Makes it an unfair or deceptive practice under the Consumer Protection Act of 1977 for a financial institution to require a firearms retailer to use firearms-specific transaction codes

Assigned to House Banking & Consumer Affairs Subcommittee; Referred to Senate Commerce and Labor Committee

HB1823/SB1697: Defines “firearm hold agreement” as a private transaction between a licensed federal firearms dealer and a firearm owner under which the dealer takes possession of the owner’s firearm at the owner’s request, holds the firearm for an agreed period of time, and then returns the firearm; states a person does not have a cause of action against a licensed federal firearms dealer for any act or omission arising from a firearm hold agreement and resulting in personal injury or death of any natural person unless the action was the result of unlawful conduct by dealer

Placed on House Civil Justice Subcommittee calendar for April 2, 2024; Failed in Senate Judiciary Committee

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HB1846/SB1657: Requires the health department to make an annual report to the governor on the total number of firearm injuries and deaths in the state per 100,000 people; requires the attorney general and report to assist the department, upon request, in collecting information necessary for the report

Held on the desk for the House, awaiting final floor vote; Passed Senate 19-0-10

HB1868/SB2388: Prohibits a gun dealer from delivering a trigger brank, bump stock, bump-fire device, or any other part, combination of parts, component, device, attachment, or accessory that is designed or functions to accelerate the rate of fire of a firearm to a purchaser until 72 hours have passed from the initial time at which the sale of the firearm accessory was sought by a purchaser

Assigned to House Criminal Justice Subcommittee; Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee

HB1904/SB2180: Exempts persons with enhanced or concealed handgun carry permits from the offense of carrying at a meeting conducted by, or on property owned, operated, or managed or under control of the individual, corporation, business entity, or government entity that is properly posted

Placed on House Civil Justice Subcommittee for April 2, 2024; Failed in Senate Judiciary Committee

HB1935/SB2290: Prohibits sales and purchases of certain high-capacity, semi-automatic firearms

Failed for lack of motion in House Criminal Justice Subcommittee; Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate Judiciary Committee

HB2014/SB1746: Enacts the “Tennessee Voluntary Do Not Sell Firearms Act,” which permits a person to voluntarily waive their firearm rights through filing a waiver with the clerk of the circuit court in the county of the person’s residence or with their healthcare provider; specifies procedures the clerk, healthcare provider, TBI, and department of health must follow upon receipt of a waiver

Assigned to House Civil Justice Subcommittee; Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee

HB2032/SB2912: Removes the offense of possessing a weapon in a building that prohibits or restricts weapons; allows a person with an enhanced handgun carry permit to carry a handgun into a business that prohibits or restricts weapons; removes penalties for violations of certain firearms provisions

Placed on House Civil Justice Subcommittee for April 2, 2024; Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee

HB2035/SB2763: Preempts the entire field of legislation regarding extreme risk protection orders to the exclusion of all county, city, town, municipality, or metropolitan government law, ordinances, resolutions, enactments, or regulation; declares a federal statute, rule, executive order, or a federal judicial order that has the effect of enforcing an extreme risk protection order to be null and void; creates a Class A misdemeanor offense of attempting to enforce a federally implemented extreme risk protection order

Placed on House Civil Justice Subcommittee calendar for April 2, 2024; Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee

HB2193/SB2191: Imposes an additional 15% tax on the retail sale of firearms; requires revenue from the firearms tax to be deposited into the K-12 mental health counselor fund to be administered by the Department of Education and used exclusively to provide school counselors in elementary and secondary public schools and public charter schools in this state and for mental health assessments and services for students pursuant to a school counselor’s referral

Failed in House K-12 Subcommittee; Assigned to General Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee

HB2196/SB2192: Creates an offense for a person to possess or manufacture an ammunition feeding device that has capacity to accept more than 10 rounds, unless certain circumstances apply

Action deferred in House Civil Justice Subcommittee until April 2, 2024; Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee

HB2199/SB1785: Enacts “MaKayla’s Law,” which expands the offense of reckless endangerment to include a person’s reckless failure to render inoperable or safely secure or lock a firearm, resulting in a child under 13 gaining possession of the firearm and injuring or killing the child or another

Assigned to House Criminal Justice Subcommittee; Failed in Senate Judiciary Committee

HB2218/SB1927: Permits the largest municipality in Shelby, Davison, Knox, or Hamilton counties to regulate the manner of storage of firearms, firearm ammunition, and firearm accessories by ordinance, resolution, policy, rule, or other enactment

Assigned to House Civil Justice Subcommittee; Reset on final calendar of Senate Judiciary Committee

HB2220/SB1966: Creates the “Tennessee Do Not Sell List;” requires the TBI to develop and launch a secure internet-based platform to allow any person in the U.S. to register to add the person’s own name to the list by Jan. 1, 2025

Assigned to House Civil Justice Subcommittee; Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee

HB2288/SB1731: Creates the Class D felony of employing a firearm during the commission of, attempt to commit, or flight or escape from an offense other than a dangerous felony; requires a person convicted of the offense to be sentenced to a mandatory minimum sentence of five years imprisonment

Taken off notice in House Criminal Justice Committee; Assigned to General Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee

HB2329/SB2449: deletes an exception to the offense of carrying a firearm with the intent to go armed for persons carrying, whether openly or concealed, a handgun if the person lawfully possesses the handgun, is in a place where the person is lawfully present, and the person meets certain age requirements

Failed in House Criminal Justice Subcommittee; Reset on Final calendar of Senate Judiciary Committee

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HB2350/SB2287: creates a Class A misdemeanor of knowingly or recklessly permitting a child under 12 years of age to have access to or possession, custody, or use of a firearm unless the person has the permission of the child’s parent or guardian, the child is under the supervision of an adult, and the firearm was used for lawful sporting activity

Action deferred in House Criminal Justice Subcommittee to April 2, 2024; Referred to Senate Judiciary Committee

HB2454/SB2160: Enacts the “Anti-Road Rage Act of 2024;” creates a Class E felony for the reckless discharge of a firearm while operating, or as a passenger in, a motor vehicle; creates a Class A misdemeanor for the reckless brandishing or display of a firearm while operating, or as a passenger in, a motor vehicle

Action deferred in House Criminal Justice Subcommittee until April 2, 2024; Action deferred in the Senate Judiciary Committee until April 2, 2024

HB2505/SB2438: Requires retailers and sellers of firearm ammunition to maintain ammunition in an area inaccessible to a customer in a retail establishment; classifies a violation as a Class A misdemeanor

Failed in House Criminal Justice Subcommittee; Resent on final Senate Judiciary Committee calendar

HB2762/SB2223: Enacts the “Second Amendment Financial Privacy Act,” which prohibits a financial institution from requiring the usage of a merchant code that distinguishes a firearms retailer from a general merchandise retailer or a sporting goods retailer and from disclosing a financial record collected in violation of the prohibition

Ready for a House vote; Passed Senate 25-5

HB2854/SB2825: Exempts the retail sale of firearms that have a barrel less than an internal diameter of .50 caliber and shotguns of 10 gauge or greater from the sales and use tax

Assigned to Finance, Ways, and Means Subcommittee; Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Revenue Subcommittee

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