In layman’s terms: Coalition of 2A groups sue Memphis for new gun ban laws passed in violation of Tennessee’s state preemption law.
On November 13, a coalition of Second Amendment rights groups filed a lawsuit against the city of Memphis for gun control laws passed in opposition to the state’s preemption law.
Gun Owners of America (GOA) and Gun Owners Foundation (GOF), together with the Tennessee Firearms Association, filed the suit, known as Timmerman v. City of Memphis, in Shelby County, Tennessee.
The suit challenges Memphis’ newly adopted gun control ordinance (Ordinance No. 5908) which was passed via ballot measure on election day, and includes:
- Ban the carry of handguns without a permit, despite the state’s newly enacted permitless carry law;
- Ban the possession and sale of “assault rifles” without even defining what constitutes such a weapon; and
- Create a local “red flag” gun confiscation order that empowers local police to strip law-abiding citizens of their guns without due process.
Tennessee state law has a preemption clause aimed at keeping municipalities from passing laws that deviate from state law and further infringe upon Second Amendment rights. The law prohibits:
any “county, city, town, municipality, or metropolitan government” from deviating from state law “including, but not limited to, the use, purchase, transfer, taxation, manufacture, ownership, possession, carrying, sale, acquisition, gift, devise, licensing, registration, storage, and transportation” of “firearms, ammunition, or components of firearms or ammunition, or combinations thereof.”
Erich Pratt, GOA’s Senior Vice President, issued the following statement in an email:
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.” We are hopeful that Tennessee Courts will quickly block this insubordinate violation of state law.
