On August 22, 2025, a three judge panel completely struck down as unconstitutional two of Tennessee’s more egregious gun control statutes – one which makes it a crime to carry a firearm with the “intent to go armed” and another which banned carrying certain weapons in parks, greenways, campgrounds and other recreational areas. This ruling was a huge win for Tennesseans. On September 2, 2025, Governor Bill Lee, Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti and the remaining state defendants filed a notice of appeal. Sheriff Paul Thomas, who is not represented by Skrmetti, did not appeal.

Then, later on September 2, 2025, Attorney General Skrmetti filed a motion to stay the effectiveness of the three-judge panel ruling until the court of appeals could hear the case. In the state’s motion for stay, it admits in the very first sentence that “[i]n the clarifying light of Bruen, the constitutional infirmities of some of Tennessee’s gun laws are hard to miss.” Indeed, Lee and Skrmetti also admit in their motion that “Defendants have acknowledged that there are unconstitutional applications of these statutes. Ds’ MSJ, at 16.” Skrmetti/Lee Motion for Stay, p. 5. Those admissions, coupled with the constitutionally required oath of office (Lee and Skrmetti), may cause some to question whether the act of appealing itself is a violation of their respective oaths of office.

The fact is clear – both Lee and Skrmetti have judicially admitted that these challenged laws are unconstitutional in at least some of the ways that they have been applied, but yet they each are seeking, in potential violation of their oaths, to reverse the judicial declaration of the statutes’ unconstitutionality apparently to continue the ability to prosecute individuals under these statutes.

Indeed, Defendants assert that without the capacity to enforce these unconstitutional laws that all manner of chaos might plague Tennesseans. For example, they assert:

For example, the Court’s order appears to do away with any state law obstacle to a ten-year-old bringing a semi-automatic rifle to his rec league basketball game. The order similarly appears to erase any state legal prohibition against a shotgun-bearing drunk stumbling through a crowd on Broadway, or across Market Square, or through Shelby Farms. Prohibitions on such reckless conduct are plainly consistent with the Constitution as well as the preferences of the people of Tennessee.

Skrmetti/Lee Motion for Stay, p. 2

Yet, the Court’s order does not impact any statutes other than the “intent to go armed” and “parks” statutes. Other state and federal statutes, which are unchallenged at this time, such as those that restrict access to firearms by certain individuals, that prohibit certain individuals from purchasing or possessing firearms, that prohibit certain individuals from carrying firearms, that prohibit reckless conduct, that prohibit the possession of a handgun (or in some instances a firearm) while under the influence, or that prohibit public intoxication are not impacted by the court’s ruling.

Yet, while bemoaning the panel’s declaration that these statutes violate clear constitutional limits on government authority to regulate arms, the Defendants also assert that the ruling in no way precludes law enforcement or other judges from continuing to enforce these unconstitutional statutes:

To be sure, this Court entered no injunction, and neither Defendants nor any other law enforcement officer has been commanded to cease enforcing the statutes. Steffel v. Thompson, 415 U.S. 452, 471 (1974) (though a declaratory judgment “may be persuasive, it is not ultimately coercive”). So too, the decision of the Gibson County Chancery Court cannot bind the circuit and criminal courts across Tennessee who routinely adjudicate the application of the criminal laws in the cases before them.

Skrmetti/Lee Motion for Stay, p. 4

Tennesseans should see now even more clearly that their rights are not being protected by Bill Lee, Jonathan Skrmetti, his staff attorneys, state agencies and legislators (particularly those who have called for or supported the appeal).

What can you do now?

• join Tennessee Firearms Association to help continue the fight both in the courts and in the Legislature
• take copies of the opinion and TFA’s reports to your legislators and demand answers as to why they failed to take action so that this lawsuit would not have been required
• ask your legislators whether they opposed, supported or just sat by silently on the issue of the appeal
• ask your legislators for copies of their communications with the Governor or the Attorney General concerning this lawsuit or the appeal and provide those to TFA to share with others
• ask your legislators to identify for you other legislators who have blocked prior efforts to legislatively repeal these statutes
• find constitutionally minded stewards to replace the legislators, governors and the attorney general who have failed us

If you appreciate this effort, this ruling and TFA’s dedication to protecting our rights, please consider joining and supporting TFA by being a member. Further, if you would like to help fund this and other litigation efforts, please consider a tax deductible contribution to the Tennessee Firearms Foundation.