Following Tireless Advocacy from Moms Demand Action, Students Demand Action Volunteers, Legislature Adjourns Without Passing Any Gun Lobby Priorities
The Tennessee chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both part of Everytown for Gun Safety’s grassroots network, released the following statement after the Tennessee legislature adjourned sine die, marking the official end of the 2022 legislative session. Despite fervent attempts to advance a suite of dangerous gun bills, lawmakers closed the session without advancing a single gun lobby priority. Over the past few months, gun safety advocates worked tirelessly to ensure that bills like HB1735, which would have lowered the age requirement for carrying a concealed, loaded handgun in public from 21 to 18, and HB2554, which would have allowed people with enhanced carry permits to carry firearms in all places at all times, with limited exceptions — which is currently only allowed for on or off duty law enforcement — did not pass.
“Today is a major win for gun safety in Tennessee,” said Linda McFadyen-Ketchum, a volunteer with the Tennessee chapter of Moms Demand Action. “We’re thrilled to be celebrating a session with no bad gun bills passed, but we know far more needs to be done to make our state safe from gun violence. We will take this momentum right back into the fight as we continue to urge lawmakers to prioritize public safety beyond the legislative session.”
To address the state’s ongoing gun violence crisis, state lawmakers, alongside other state and local leaders, must prioritize public safety and advance a common sense gun safety agenda that would reduce gun deaths and save lives — starting with taking action on secure firearm storage, creating a process for obtaining Extreme Risk Protection Orders, and funding Community Violence Intervention programs.
Statistics about gun violence in Tennessee are available here. Everytown’s interactive gun law ranking tool — which shows the direct correlation between the strength of a state’s gun laws and its rate of gun deaths — is available here.