NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A recent court ruling on firearms has left Tennessee law enforcement, and the governor, with questions.
Following a lawsuit, a panel of judges in West Tennessee ruled last Friday that two state firearm laws were unconstitutional: one was a ban on guns in public parks and the other was a law against carrying a gun with the “intent to go armed.”
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Both laws were argued as a violation of the Second Amendment by some pro-gun advocates in the state. Rep. Chris Todd (R-Madison County) told News 2 that “everybody seems overjoyed” by the ruling.
But how will local law enforcement agencies adjust?
Dickson County Sheriff Tim Eads said changing the already-broad “intent to go armed” law likely won’t impact much.
“I don’t think it changes a whole lot, anyway, other than it does take it off the books — legally,” Eads said. “…I think to some of the folks, it makes it more of [a] true constitutional carry — where you’re just walking down the street, minding your own business, you’re carrying a firearm, you’re carrying it legally — you couldn’t be accosted and charged … Now if they’re involved in criminal activity or there’s suspicion that something else is going on, we handle it like we always do.”
Eads said he expects to hear more about the ruling from different state law enforcement associations, but he added it’s still too early to know much more. For now, though, he said he’d talk with his officers.
“We would put a specific memo on that to let them know, ‘Hey, this law has been struck down. It’s unconstitutional, so just because somebody’s walking down the street, carrying a weapon, they can’t be charged for just carrying the weapon,” Eads said.
Governor Bill Lee was asked about the ruling on Tuesday morning.
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“We’re trying to understand fully what the ruling is … Our team is looking at what the implications are. It’s not very clear yet, to us, and when we do, then we’ll have more to say,” Lee said. “Right now, it’s hard for us — having not analyzed their ruling — to know what the next steps would be.”
News 2 spoke with other law enforcement agencies in Middle Tennessee. They expressed similar sentiments of uncertainty regarding the changes and the need to discuss it more amongst their personnel.
It’s unknown if the state will appeal this ruling.
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