Tennessee gun laws have RELAXED in recent years, and teachers could carry guns under new bill

Gun laws in Tennessee have been relaxed in recent years after lawmakers removed requirements for background checks and permits and enacted laws expanding concealed carry.

Nashville mass shooter Audrey Hale purchased seven guns locally despite receiving treatment for an emotional disorder that was not reported to authorities.

Despite the fact that the Hale massacre claimed the lives of six people at the Covenant School in Nashville, the state’s Republican lawmakers are pushing numerous bills that would further expand access to firearms, with Rep. Rusty Grills spearheading part of the effort.

One bill would allow school staff members to carry guns on campus, another would allow permit holders to bring guns onto college campuses, and another would further expand concealed carry.

Below is the current state of gun laws in Tennessee.

Rep. Rusty Grills is one of the Tennessee Republican lawmakers spearheading the expansion of gun rights

The Tennessee state constitution clearly states that its residents ‘have the right to keep and bear arms for their common defense; but the Legislature shall have power, by law, to regulate the use of arms with a view to preventing crime.’

Those rights include the unauthorized, concealed and non-concealed carry of firearms for persons age 21 and older, which Gov. Bill Lee signed into law in 2021, according to ABC News.

“I signed the constitutional cart today because it shouldn’t be hard for law abiding Tennesseans to exercise their #2A rights,” Lee tweeted at the time.

Firearms purchasers are not required to undergo any background checks or training, and members of law enforcement and the military between the ages of 18 and 20 are not required to have a permit to carry a firearm. fire.

The state allows anyone over the age of 18 to purchase a shotgun or rifle without a permit, according to ABC News, but they are not allowed to carry it “if it is not concealed on or near the person and must be unloaded.”

Residents with felony convictions, DUIs, and reported mental health issues are not allowed to purchase or carry firearms.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation told NBC News that “voluntary treatment for mental conditions does not prohibit” factors for owning or purchasing a gun in the state.

“Additionally, in Tennessee, the only ones disqualified from purchasing a firearm are those that have been unintentionally committed by a judge,” the Bureau added.

Gun owners are prohibited from bringing weapons into schools, public parks, any place that serves alcohol, or two government buildings.

Private establishments can ban guns as long as their rules are clearly posted, according to ABC.

There is no limit to the number of guns you can buy in Tennessee, according to WATER.

Mass shooter Audrey Hale at least even owned guns despite having an emotional condition

Audrey Hale walking through the Covenant School with one of her guns on Monday

Hale brought three weapons with him to carry out his massacre on Monday: two rifles and a pistol.

After the shooting, police could be seen removing the rest of his gun collection from his family home.

At a news conference Monday, Nashville Police Chief John Drake said his family “felt like he had a gun and he sold it.” She was under doctors care for an emotional disorder.

“Her parents felt that she shouldn’t have guns, and they were under the impression that she no longer had any. But she had been hiding several inside the house.

He added that Hale’s mother saw her leave the house yesterday with a red bag and asked her briefly what it contained.

“She dismissed it, thinking it was just a motherly thing.”

Despite being under the care of doctors, his ’emotional disturbance’ had not been reported to the authorities. Had he been informed, or a more thorough background check had been conducted, he may have been prevented from purchasing the guns.