﻿Over the last few years, we've seen a big effort on the state level to fight against
and even counteract federal gun control laws. This has mostly manifested in the
second amendment sanctuary movement and a couple attempts at a Second Amendment Preservation Act,
which of course the Biden Administration is fighting.
But, there's an attempt to legalize certain items from the NFA list down in Tennessee, which I
surprisingly only found out about through Twitter. A quick internet search turned up only the bill
itself, and not a single video or article about it, at least in the first couple pages of results.
Before I read you the bill, I'd like to give a shout out to today's sponsor, the United States
Concealed Carry Association. The USCCA provides responsibly armed Americans with life saving
education, training, and members are also covered under their liability insurance in the event
of a self defense situation. To get USCCA your corner, go to uscca dot com slash liberty Doll.
House Bill 2509 was introduced on February 2 and, as introduced, "removes a short-barrel
rifle or shotgun from the list of weapons the possession, manufacture, transport, repair,
or sale of which is prohibited under state law." By Amending TCA Title 39, Chapter 17, Part 13.
Currently, the Tennessee law in question "prohibits any person from intentionally
or knowingly possessing, manufacturing, transporting, repairing, or selling a short-barrel
rifle or shotgun." The law also classifies it as a class E felony, which is punishable by 1
to 6 years in prison and a fine up to 3 grand. It's the least serious felony in the state,
but still a dumb rule and not something you want on your record for obvious reasons.
There are, of course, exceptions for FFLs, cops, and military.
The bill, if passed, would repeal such an offense and would authorize an individual to possess,
manufacture, transport, repair, or sell a short-barrel rifle or shotgun in Tennessee.
According to the fiscal report connected to the bill, there has been an
average of 1.7 people a year charged and processed under this law for the last decade. So like,
one person plus a dude missing an arm or a leg a year. (Ba dum chish)
Because, point 7… yeah MOVING ON.
Anyway, those 1.7 people aren't specifically charged for SBRs or
shotguns, as that part of the law also includes machine guns and explosives.
The bill was also introduced in the state Senate as bill
2628. It passed the Senate on April 7th with 23 yeses and only one no.
It just passed the House on April 25th with 80 votes for it and 7 against.
So far, I can't find any information
on the governor's thoughts on this bill and how likely it is to pass.
BUT - that being said, the fiscal report notes that being stamped under the NFA is
a valid defense against possession charges, so this isn't some "F the NFA" battle charge.
This new bill, as written, doesn't outright say, "you still have to follow the NFA," but it's still
implied via the fiscal report and the fact that the fed bois don't give a f* ck about your rights.
Because I can't find any information on what pro-gun groups are saying on the ground, it's
entirely possible that this is a nothing-burger designed to scrub excess text from the books.
After all, Texas tried to side step the NFA recently with a bill that attempted
to exempt Texas-made suppressors, and forbade state authorities from enforcing the NFA
on these specific suppressors. It hasn't done anything to change the actual buying
process and needs a court judgment on its constitutionality to hold any teeth.
Attorney General Paxton filed a lawsuit against the ATF in February,
saying the alphabet agency violates the Second Amendment rights of Texans to buy suppressors
with regulations and taxation that goes against state law. But, technically,
the ATF gets a lot of its weight from abusing interstate commerce rules.
And again, doesn't seem to give a f*ck about the Second Amendment.
Kansas also passed a similar law in 2014.
One guy sold an unregistered suppressor to another, both ended up with federal convictions,
and the Supreme Court upheld those convictions when they refused to take the case in 2019.
Plus, manufacturers and FFLs are still subject to their end of the NFA, and
transferring an SBR without the right federal paperwork
would cost them their license. The ATF sent out an open letter to all Texas FFLs saying
exactly that when the suppressor bill was passed. So, unfortunately, even if this bill is signed,
its unlikely to do much, at least until there's an answer in the Texas lawsuit.
Looks like we'll just have to stay tuned to find out.
That's it for today - please like, share, and subscribe, cross your Ts on those Texas
and Tennessee tax stamps, and check out the description for other ways to support the channel.
As always, thanks for tuning in, stay safe, and happy shooting.