Is Tennessee Flirting with Red Flag Laws?

For the last few weeks, anti-gun advocates have been pressuring/bullying the Tennessee legislature to pass new restrictions, weapon bans, red flag laws... just any new gun control in the wake of the Covenant Presbyterian school shooting. This shooting caused the death of three adults and three children, victims who are all but forgotten already.

Instead, the attention is now on generic collective gun violence and generic collective activists, who are calling for generic collective gun control measures NOW. Protests have been loud and unruly; you can hear more about them in this podcast episode.

In all the insane furor, pro-2A voices have been relatively, and we would say, respectfully quiet. However, it is now time for us to contact the Governor of Tennessee and the leaders of the House and Senate and give them our input.

This is because, after a few weeks of aimless noise, there is now some actual executive and legislative motion. Yesterday the Governor issued an Executive order and announced a strong push for a bill to expand the Orders of Protection law currently on the books. Legal language isn’t available yet, but everyone from anti gunners to pro-2A news sites have already called it a red flag law that will allow for faster or easier preemptive weapon confiscation, even within the framework of our existing Orders of Protection code.

Now is the time to let them know that we have input, and this call is not just for Tennesseans but all Americans in every state.

The reason for that is simple: Tennessee politicians are receiving demands for disarmament from ALL states. Certain lawmaker offices have received over 10,000 voicemails over nights and weekends, most of which came from New York area codes. Teachers' unions have been bussing kids from Alabama and Kentucky into Nashville for protests, and professional activists have been traveling further. President Biden inserted himself into the story with support for the loudest TN Democrats, and Kamala Harris came down to show her support for them in person.

The national media has ignored the actual victims and put massive attention on the protestors, and the outcome of this fight will also have national ramifications. If the anti-gun side wins, this will be their playbook for future campaigns in every state. If they fail, Tennessee will have set an example of constitutional principles that will affect every state.

So, we're asking you to send an email to the Governor's chief of staff at the following address: [email protected]

And CC these folks in the legislature: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

Do not copy and paste this email—they have already received thousands of anti-gun form letters from Michael Bloomberg's groups. Instead, pick a few of the primary talking points below and write a paragraph or even a single sentence and send that. As long as you have "No to Red Flag Laws" or a similar subject heading and bring up any points like the ones below, your messages will count.

Main points:

• Thank them for standing firm and not passing new restrictions in the heat of the moment last week.
• The majority of Tennesseans are gun owners who rely daily on personal firearms to prevent crime in their communities.
• Creating a system to disarm people before they have committed crimes is very dangerous and should not happen quickly under the pressure of national attention.
• Leadership pressuring Republican legislators to pass a red flag law will cost many of them their seats in contested districts.
• After so many threats and disruptions from people demanding more gun restrictions, increasing gun restrictions is a clear win for protestors and will only increase these protests. From inside and outside of Tennessee, this action looks like bowing to the mob. It will communicate that political blackmail and tantrums work to get what you want.

Additional talking points:

• We do not appreciate an expansion of the state's ability to disarm people faster, especially since mass shootings and gun violence are perpetrated on the unarmed and disarmed.
• Waiting two weeks after a school shooting and then pushing gun control measures during the height of media attention demonstrates capitulation and surrender.
• Asking the legislature to pass new gun control measures the same week disciplined legislators return demanding increased gun control demonstrates surrender.
• Both right-wing and left-wing media have already branded this new (thus far unseen) legislation as "red flag laws." It will be forever identified as a red flag law. It will be forever seen as some level of infringement on the Second Amendment. Gun control groups are already declaring a win and gloating about red flag laws passing as a direct result of defeating the Republicans. The branding of this bill is already being done by the other side.
• Orders of Protection regularly fail, like when Michaela Carter was gunned down by her boyfriend despite an Order of Protection "disarming" him.
• Criminals tend to use their own legally purchased firearms less than 10% of the time, so this is far more likely to disarm legal gun owners than those with criminal intent.
• Orders of Protection could be used by criminals to disarm potential victims, or criminals could track Orders of Protection to know who will be vulnerable.
• With SWATTING and political harassment at an all-time high (see recent Tennessee protests), we should not be creating more tools that allow easier targeting of conservatives and gun owners.

Thanks for your time and consideration on this. Speed is key here; the more of us they hear from, the more encouraged these representatives will be to squash a bad bill before it gets released, regardless of the pressure they are currently receiving from elsewhere.