300winmag

Unless a bill gets passed quickly before the end of the legislative session, people with what the 'enhanced' permits get absolutely nothing 'enhanced' out of the deal similar to other states such as Mississippi. No college campus carry, no school carry, or any other reduced restrictions for the present carry permit/new enhanced that requires live fire. The whole deal is kind of pointless. Pay 100 dollars for one carry permit with restrictions OR pay 65 dollars for a permit with more restrictions. Did the NRA endorse and lobby for this bill instead of for reducing carry restrictions this year?

Most states don't have weapons crimes for carrying past a sign like TN does for people with permits. The problem with the no guns signs in TN is that technically they can result in weapons charges not just on private property but also on publicly owned property, such as your state government owned buildings. A misdemeanor weapons crime conviction can result in you having problems with your handgun carry permit unless I am wrong. A misdemeanor trespass conviction I don't think would cause problems with your handgun carry permit. Luckily right now the law does not seem to be used as a criminal charge, but it could be used and would cause people with permits legal problems. Trespass works in other states for people who fail to leave when asked and would work here fine instead of this sort of law. Modifying the sign law is better than nothing. The best would be just to scrap it but the politicians are too scared to do that. This shows that the politicians may not do much pro gun wise this year for carry rights.

The whole no gun signs weapons crime should be repealed in Tennessee but the pro gun legislature just is not pro gun enough to do that so that is why you are seeing this fix. Trespassing laws cover that situation sufficient in most other states that do not have that sort of silly weapons crime. The sad thing is that this may be the only pro gun carry bill that gets passed this year. Unless something last minute happens in the legislature, it does not look like we will get school carry or college carry legalized for someone with a handgun carry permit. We probably are not getting constitutional carry either. Maybe that less expensive carry permit will be the cookie crumbs thrown our way so the politicians have the appearance of doing something pro gun.

If what will become the enhanced carry permit does not reduce carry restrictions (legal school carry, removing no gun sign weapons crime), then having two handgun carry permits is a total waste in my opinion. This is nothing but a joke for the legislators to look like they are doing something pro gun but in reality not do anything pro gun that actually gives people more carry rights. If the NRA is behind this VS spending time on cutting handgun carry permit location restrictions and Constitutional carry, I'm disappointed.

A regular privately owned free standing daycare should be legal. If the location is a school, then you probably can't carry there legally. You should thank the pro gun NRA endorsed Republican legislators in Nashville for complicating that since they can't seem to make it easier for people with a handgun carry permit by cutting location restrictions. Instead, they are working on a slightly less expensive handgun carry permit option for people.

The bill changed the name of the current handgun carry permit to an enhanced handgun carry permit BUT does not add any enhancements to it as in less off limits locations such as school property and the no gun sign weapons crime. The bill then adds a concealed only permit that requires less training. You still have to get a background check and fingerprinting, but hunter's education or a web based gun safety class could be sufficient training for this new permit. The new permit will be offered by the state at a reduced cost. I personally do not see the point in the NRA or any pro gun group spending the time on this bill if there are not going to be reduced gun free areas, such as school property, for the current handgun carry permit = enhanced carry permit that requires live fire training. Is it really that difficult for the NRA to get behind a decent pro gun bill in TN so that people with permits can legally carry in more places? Every state bordering TN has legalized college carry except North Carolina. In some of those states it is also legal to carry in K-12 schools.

I don't see this bill or any other bill in the legislature creating a true enhanced carry permit like the one Mississippi has that legalizes carry on school property and other 'gun free' areas. If this is the best carry bill the NRA is getting behind in the TN legislature this year, that is not good because it really does not improve anything carry restriction wise.

What pro carry bills are there in the legislature? The only one that the NRA has advertised for is HB 1264 that created a lower tier concealed carry permit that required less training to obtain from the state. I do not see the NRA advocating for any bills in Tennessee that reduce restrictions on where we can carry presently, such as college campus carry. I also do not see a push for any bills that remove the requirement for a handgun carry permit such as constitutional carry. Unless there are bills being worked on, it is concerning that there does not seem to be any movement in carry bills this year even with a new house speaker and governor. Carry reform that our surrounding states already have, such as college carry and constitutional carry, should be easy with our legislature make up and new governor.

Are there any updates on this bill or other bills being amended to actually enhance the new enhanced carry permit so that there are less restrictions such as legal school carry and no weapons charges for the no guns signs?

That is disappointing that there are not any plans to remove off limits locations, like schools and colleges, for the new enhanced carry permit similar to what Mississippi did several years ago when it started offering enhanced permits. It is interesting that the only state bordering TN that does not have legal college carry with a permit is North Carolina. Missouri, Alabama, and Mississippi it is legal to carry in K-12 schools also with a permit. Of course some of these surrounding states you can open carry and/or conceal carry without buying a license, but you are often more restricted on where you can carry. I don't think we are getting much value out of our handgun carry permits that require live fire training and payment to the state.

If the enhanced permit in TN is not treated like the enhanced permit in Mississippi with legal K-12 school/college carry and decriminalizing the no gun signs, then there is not any benefit in this legislation for people with enhanced permits. I am hoping this bill is amended further change that.

In Mississippi, you can legally carry on K-12 and college property with an enhanced carry license. Also, someone in Mississippi with an enhanced carry license cannot get a weapons charge for a 'no guns' sign. A private property owner of course can still ask you to leave and still trespass you if you do not leave. From what I understand about the only place you cannot legally carry there with the enhanced license is an actual courtroom (the courthouse is ok) and maybe police stations and prisons. People can take the same 8 hour classes in Memphis that people take for the Tennessee handgun carry permit class and get a Mississippi enhanced concealed license. Regular licenses in Mississippi do not require training but do require background check and fingerprinting. You can also carry concealed there without a license as long as the handgun is in a holster. The enhanced license bill in TN would be a good deal if it legalizes K-12 and college property carry and removes the no gun sign weapons charge.

There have not been any bills introduced in the legislature in Nashville as of today either that reduce the restriction locations on handgun carry permits. Reducing restrictions should not be that difficult to justify with a Republican super majority legislature, Republican governor, and the cash flow the state receives from the handgun carry permit fees.

I'd like to see very clean bills for handgun carry permits that get rid of the no gun sign weapons crime and also weapons crime for carrying at K-12 schools and colleges. Mississippi enhanced concealed licensees take the same training that people in Tennessee take and can carry in K-12 schools and colleges. They also do not have to worry about getting a weapons charge over a 'no gun' sign. Why can't our handgun carry permit here do the same for us? I think that is very fair to ask considering we are required to have training. Pretty much all the states surrounding Tennessee are legal as far as college carry and some are legal for K-12 carry with a license.

I do hope there can be some positive work done in the Legislature for cutting restrictions on people with handgun carry permits now that there is a new House Speaker. It is kind of pathetic that we can get fined over a 'no gun' sign and can't even carry at college campuses legally after paying the money for a handgun carry permit. People who live in Alabama and Mississippi can carry at public K-12 public schools with licenses.

It will be interesting to see if some decent carry bills make it through the legislature's committee system this year. I would like to see college campus carry fully legalized and even K-12 school carry legalized with a handgun carry permit. The weapons offense behind the 'no guns' signs removed would be nice too. It is strange that you cannot carry with a permit at the Capitol here even though it otherwise would be legal. It sounds like the politicians are scared of the honest people.

I think this could potentially be another bad law used in divorce type situations with arguing spouses to get back at each other. There are laws on the books to deal with convicted felons. There are also laws already on the books to deal with people who are so mentally unstable that the courts need to supervise. I don't see a new law fixing these two issues.

Your business place is just like your home. You do not need a handgun carry permit to keep a firearm at your business. In fact your friend can carry a loaded gun in his car without a permit too which would cover him making bank deposits at the drive up window for his business. So he would be fine without a permit to carry from his home in his car to his business, to say the bank, and then on the way home in his car. Since the business is just like your house, you could keep a loaded long gun for protection. Long guns are not covered by handgun carry permits. 39-17-1308. Defenses to unlawful possession or carrying of a weapon. (a) It is a defense to the application of § 39-17-1307 if the possession or carrying was: (3) At the person's: (A) Place of residence; (B) Place of business; or (C) Premises;

Hawks and coyotes are everywhere. You don't see a lot of overgrown high grass land around here either that gives the quail a place to nest. The feds protect the hawks and TWRA protects the coyotes by not letting people night hunt coyotes on private land like you can in most other states. Didn't TWRA introduce coyotes in Tennessee, since they used to just be west of the Miss River?

You can drink in places that serve alcohol in Mississippi while carrying. TN is probably one of the few places where it is illegal to drink and carry in a place that serves alcohol.

Honestly it just shows that if this legislature can't fix something that simple (these signs do make it a crime to carry on some state govt property too some people forget) to help people with handgun carry permits, then the legislature has no intention of helping carry rights that attracts more media attention like college carry. Kind of a shame when just about every state surrounding Tennessee has legalized college carry.

It looks like HB 2484 was killed today in the Senate judiciary committee today. It made it to the state House floor last week but was not voted on by the full House. The bill would have basically helped remove the criminal penalty for someone with a handgun carry permit to walk past a 'no gun' sign if the person immediately left a posted property. You might want to call the NRA and ask them to lobby the state house and state senators to bring this bill to a floor vote. It does not look like handgun carry permit people will get any improvements this year as far as reducing restrictions if this bill does not become law. By the way you should contact your state rep and state senator and encourage them to bring this to a floor vote just like they are working hard at helping their fellow politician buddies carry in courthouses while the rest of us may not be able to carry there. HB 1939 / SB 1500 legalizes carry in courthouses only for county commissioners who have handgun carry permits. It has passed the state house and waiting to be voted on the floor of the state senate.

This is about the only real pro gun bill we may get this year from the way things are looking as far as handgun carry permits. The bill basically removed criminal liability for people with handgun carry permits on posted property IF they leave when the posted property when asked to leave. The bill already been amended once and may be amended again on the House floor vote this week from what I'm reading on the legislature's website. A representative from Knoxville introduced on the House floor last week an amendment to basically change the whole bill from an exception to a defense to prosecution. Just by watching a couple committee discussions on this bill, I have NEVER seen an NRA lobbyist show up for our side but the mothers demand action lobbyist seems to always show up. This is not going to work. Between that and a non supportive governor and house speaker it is obvious why we cannot get very many improvements to our handgun carry permit situation with several years of a 'conservative' Republican NRA endorsed majority. We'll never get licensed college carry in this state if the NRA can't even show up to meetings to fix this stupid sign law that should be an easy fix for the NRA. If sign bill this is such a struggle just by all the resistance by the governor's office and other 'pro gun' NRA republican legislators then unlicensed carry is a long ways off in my opinion. Maybe someone else with more knowledge knows what is going on with this bill.

The gun control people want California style laws to apply to all gun sales nationwide which means that all sales/transfers go through a gun dealer. There is also a ten day waiting period in California when you buy or transfer a gun. All handguns and now long guns are supposed to be registered out there too with the state. That is what this Moms Demand Action group want nationwide when they ask for 'background checks'.

If you are carrying on school property, Tennessee generally prohibits people, even with handgun carry permits, from carrying inside buildings owned by public and private schools and colleges. There are some exceptions and one of those is that private schools and colleges can allow carry by policy to make it legal. I highly doubt many private schools have written policy making carry by people with permits legal in the buildings. Full time faculty and staff can carry at public colleges and universities. You might want to look at 39-17-1309 for carrying on school property. One offense is intent to go armed on school property (felony) and the other is possession of a firearm (misdemeanor) on school property and the exceptions to that. It sounds like you were at it would not matter if there were 'no guns' signs or not. What matters is that it sounds like that is college owned property. It's a bad law that our 'conservative' NRA endorsed legislators don't seem to want to make better for people with handgun carry permits.