In a Monday press conference, Gov. Bill Lee (R) suggested that some people labeled as “threats” should not be able to own firearms.
“What I expect is that there will be an opportunity to look at legislation [from] around the country, at ways that we can in fact do that very thing, which is mak[ing] sure that those who are a threat to our people, to our children, do not have access to weapons, protecting the constitutional rights of Tennesseans at the same time,” said Lee.
Lee’s comments drew the ire of John Harris, the executive director of the Tennessee Firearms Association.
Harris told The Tennessee Star:
Of greater concern to the Tennessee Firearms Association are the comments by Governor Lee that indicate he is asking the Legislature to propose legislation that addresses taking guns away from “a person who is a threat to themselves or a threat to others”. That is a code-phrase for saying that Governor Lee, like Lt. Governor Randy McNally, would support what is commonly referred to as a “Red Flag” law.
Although Governor Lee did state that any proposal must protect “the constitutional rights of Tennesseans at the same time,” he gave no indication of how that might be even remotely possible following the United States Supreme Court’s June 2022 ruling in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association, Inc., et al. v. Bruen, et al, No: 20-843. Tennessee Firearms Association’s analysis of the Bruen decision’s restrictions on government discretion indicates that Governor Lee’s support of a possible Red Flag law faces dooming constitutional prohibitions. Indeed, Tennessee Firearms Association is concerned that Governor Lee, following the Supreme Court’s Bruen decision, has failed to call for the Legislature to move forward this year with an immediate focus on identifying and repealing existing state laws and regulations that are now unconstitutional under the Bruen standards.
Lee’s comments came in the wake of The Covenant School shooting, in which 28-year-old Audrey Elizabeth Hale, who identifies as transgender, killed six people at the school.
“Red Flag” laws, which are in effect in some parts of the country, allow citizens to be stripped of their Second Amendment rights if adjudicated to be a threat.
Activists argue that the term “threat” is subjective, and that those who assess potential “threats” are government officials who could have ulterior motives.
Lee has previously wavered on gun rights, previously opposing a “true constitutional carry” bill after the state supposedly passed a “constitutional carry law in 2021.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Michael Patrick Leahy contributed to this report.
Photo “Bill Lee” by Bill Lee.
