A three-judge panel of the Gibson County Chancery Court on Friday sided with Gun Owners of America, ruling Tennessee’s ban on carrying guns in state parks unconstitutional.
Tennessee Lookout noted the suit was filed in February 2023, claiming “rights to carry weapons were violated by both the state’s provision against carrying a firearm ‘with the intent to go armed’ and rules blocking weapons in state parks.”
Other plaintiffs in the case included Stephen L. Hughes, Duncan O’Mara, Elaine Kehel, and Gun Owners Foundation.
WKRN reported that the state of Tennessee has a 30-day window in which to appeal if the ruling.
Tennessee Firearms Association Executive Director John Harris observed, “If the court’s ruling stands, we end up with true constitutional carry, which only a handful of other states have.”
State Rep. John Ray Clemmons (D-Nashville) criticized the ruling, referencing Little Baseball games and saying, “Sometimes parents have disagreements, tempers flare, and the last thing you want is firearms being brandished or entering into the equation or creating even a threat of harm.”
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio, a member of Gun Owners of America, and the director of global marketing for Lone Star Hunts. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010 and has a Ph.D. in Military History. Follow him on X: @awrhawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
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