By State Rep. Bruce Griffey, R-Paris
Nashville, Tenn.–The Tennessee Firearms Association and Gun Owners of America have organized the very first Gun Owners Day on the Hill, which is scheduled for Tuesday, March 10. The event will kick off with a rally at 9 am in the old Supreme Court Chamber inside the Tennessee Capitol. The rally will last for approximately one (1) hour until 10:00 am at which time attendees will split up into groups and meet with legislators at their offices in the Cordell Hull Building, 425 5th Ave N, Nashville, TN 37243, to lobby for legislation to protect gun rights. Gun owners and Second Amendment advocates across Tennessee are encouraged to attend this free event.
One of the bills that is specifically the focus of the rally is my Constitutional Carry Bill (HB1553), which Senator Joey Hensley is sponsoring in the Senate (SB1566). If passed, my bill would make Tennessee the 17th state in America to return rights to legal firearm owners to conceal or open carry without taxation.
Tennessee is surrounded by a number of Constitutional Carry states, including Arkansas, Mississippi, Missouri and Kentucky, and I want Tennessee to join these other pro-gun states in eliminating the tax on an individual’s ability to exercise his/her 2nd Amendment Constitutional right. Not only would my Constitutional Carry bill restore gun rights to honest, law-abiding citizens by repealing the fees and burdens imposed on our natural, constitutional right to bear arms while in public, but I believe it would actually make Tennessee a safer state. The top 3 safest states in the country based upon property crime and violent crime are all Constitutional Carry states – Maine, Vermont and New Hampshire – and 5 of the top 10 safest states are Constitutional Carry states.
A second bill that is the focus of the 2nd Amendment Rally is HB2661, which is sponsored by Representative Chris Todd (R-Jackson) and which I am supporting as a co-sponsor. This bill, also known as the Campus Carry bill, returns the right to protect oneself from the threat that so many students on college campuses experience today.
There has been a strong movement across Tennessee with a wave of counties passing a resolution to declare themselves Second Amendment sanctuaries. Every county in my district has done so. My hope is that all of the individuals active in this movement at the county level become active at the state level by coming to the TN Capitol on March 10 and uniting with a strong voice in support of their 2nd Amendment Constitutional right. I anticipate that my Constitutional Carry bill will be heard and voted upon by the House Constitutional Protections Subcommittee that afternoon (March 10) at 4:30 pm in House Hearing Room II.