Tennessee appeals ruling against 2 gun laws, saying it caused ‘unnecessary confusion and risk’

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee officials said Wednesday they are appealing a recent court ruling that invalidated two state gun laws, saying that if the ruling is left unchallenged, it would appear to allow guns to be possessed by minors and people unfit to carry in public places.

Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti’s office said that the court’s ruling has caused “unnecessary confusion and risk,” seemingly making it legal for a 10-year-old to carry a semiautomatic rifle to a recreational league basketball game, or a drunk adult to tote a shotgun through popular, sometimes-crowded areas. The attorney general has asked that the three-judge panel, with judges in Gibson, Carter and Bedford counties, pause the ruling while the state appeals.

On Aug. 22, the panel ruled that two Tennessee gun laws are “unconstitutional, void, and of no effect.” One generally limits carrying a gun in a public park, playground or similar area, to someone who has a permit to carry a handgun. The second is the somewhat ambiguous offense of the “intent to go armed,” which includes broad exceptions and legal defenses. Both are misdemeanors.

The state’s filing points out that the court did not order anyone to stop enforcing the laws. But it also notes that an attorney for plaintiffs, John Harris of the Tennessee Firearms Association, wrote online that attempts to enforce the laws should put officials at risk of facing federal civil rights lawsuits.

“Law enforcement is rightly loath to choose between tempting ruinous civil rights lawsuits and carrying out their duty to protect the public,” the state’s filing says.

Harris said Wednesday that the plaintiffs disagree with “the misleading characterization of state law,” and said they will reply formally in a court filing.

After news of the appeal Tuesday, Harris posted online that the attorney general’s oath of office “does not include a duty to support the statutes enacted by the Legislature without regard to their constitutionality.” He said an appeal could take a year or more, giving lawmakers an excuse to refuse to address the “facially unconstitutional statutes” by saying they should await the court outcome before changing the laws.

Harris has also written that it appears that striking down the “intent to go armed” law will let people carry rifles or shotguns publicly. The ruling doesn’t get that specific.

According to the state, eliminating the “intent to go armed” provision would mean that “important and constitutionally-sound pieces of Tennessee law disappear.”

For instance, the state would rely on the parks and “intent to go armed” laws to prohibit a child from carrying a semiautomatic rifle to a community basketball court. A separate Tennessee law only bars the carrying of handguns by children without adult supervision, the state said.

In the drunk-with-a-shotgun scenario, another Tennessee law criminalizes having a handgun while under the influence, but the “intent to go armed” law is what prohibits the same act with long guns, the state wrote.

Under federal law, federally licensed gun dealers can’t sell a long gun to someone under 18, but there’s no federal minimum age to possess a long gun, according to Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Federal law bans access to guns by people who are “unlawful users of or addicted to a controlled substance,” but not those who misuse alcohol, according to Giffords.

The Gun Owners of America, Gun Owners Foundation and individuals sued in February 2023, saying the two Tennessee laws violate the Second Amendment and state constitutional gun rights. The plaintiffs said the “intent to go armed” law improperly burdens people to present an affirmative defense, which requires them to present evidence that provides a reason for carrying the firearm.