Via Ammoland Inc by John Crump
Gun Owners of America (GOA), Gun Owners Foundation (GOF) and the Tennessee Firearms Association (TFA) are challenging a new City of Memphis gun control ordinance that restricts the rights of those who live and visit the city.
Voters passed the ordinance last week, which created what can only be described as an island of gun control in what is otherwise a very gun-friendly state. The new ordinance bans the carry of handguns without a concealed carry permit within city limits. Tennessee is one of 29 states across the country that has some form of permitless carry, known colloquially as constitutional carry. The city’s requirement for a concealed carry permit to carry a handgun makes it a one-off city in the state.
The ordinance also bans the sale or possession of “assault rifles.” The city did not define what it considered to be an “assault rifle.” The official definition of an assault rifle is a select fire gun, which is already heavily regulated by federal law under the National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA) and the Hughes Amendment of the Gun Owners Protection Act (GOPA). No transferable assault rifle has been added to the registry since 1986. Many think the City of Memphis is referring to so-called “assault weapons,” but that was not defined by the city either.
The ordinance includes red flag laws, also known as Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPO). Red flags are controversial for their lack of due process protections. They allow the police to seize a person’s guns without that person having their day in court. The state has no red flag laws on the books, meaning the City of Memphis is the only place in the Volunteer State where someone could be subject to a gun confiscation order.
The trio of gun rights groups are suing the City of Memphis because they claim that the new ordinance is illegal under state law. The State of Tennessee has strong preemption laws, meaning local statutes and ordinances cannot supersede state laws. State law says you can carry a handgun without a permit meaning that the city’s ordinance is at odds with Tennessee State law. Preemption says the local ordinance is unenforceable. The same goes for the red flag and the “assault rifle” sections of the new City of Memphis gun control ordinance.
The contradiction between state law and the City of Memphis, gun control ordinance, is not lost on the three gun rights groups that are suing the city. The plaintiffs are asking the courts to block the ordinance. GOA Senior President Erich President pointed this fact out to AmmoLand News.
“Tennessee has one of the strongest preemption laws in the nation, and the very reason it exists is to prevent radical anti-gun cities from enacting the very sort of draconian policies Memphis just ‘adopted,’” Pratt said. “We are hopeful that Tennessee Courts will quickly block this insubordinate violation of state law.”
Memphis City Councilman JB Smiley, Jr. is already vowing to fight back against the lawsuit, but it is unclear what legal prescient the city will cite in what appears to be an open and shut case.
Read in its entirety at ammoland.com.
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Go for it, TN. remember the battle of athens, TN in 1946. Sometimes there is a bad administration that wants to crush citizens.. Also rmrmber the bill of rights was enforced in 1791, the militia act was enacted in 1792. it defines the organized and unorganized militia. The unorganized militia was every male citizen of military age, in good health. They were required to OWN a militay caliber weapon, with bayonet lug and bayonet, along with powder, flints, ammo and military supplies. Also the law at that time was the sherrif and citizen volunteers called watchmen. so the principle at the time was that armed citizens protected themselves, family, neighborhood, town, state and feds in that order. all without a formal military signing. whoever in admin voted this anti-gun carry should be removed from office.
When a state passes firearms preemption laws, they should also add a penalty for violation by city police and county sheriffs enforcing the unconstitutional ordinance. A good penalty would be personal exposure to civil liability and incarceration by the offending law enforcement officer(s). Good luck to the mayors and county commissioners making the arrests who are not LEOs.