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Gun Laws In Tennessee

Hook Creek

Sergeant
Full Member
Minuteman
Oct 7, 2010
177
15
36
Catskill Mountains, NY
Looks Like my job might be moving me out to TN. Wondering what the freedom was like over there. Got to be a hell of a lot better than where Im at now!
 
What he posted ^^. The only edit I might add is they recently changed the law regarding carry in your car without a permit. I didn't read the details because I have a carry permit but it's something you should look into. It's also legal to carry automatic knives and no length restriction on other knives.
 
TN is a great place to be a gunowner. I had LEO see a rifle in my truck (out in town) and start chatting about firearms for a good while. Probably not the case in the metro areas, but small town life is good. Something that surprises me is that women don't get torqued up about firearms when they notice you carrying them. I was in a small restaurant in McMinnville eating lunch with a bunch of friends a few years ago. We looked ROUGH as we had been working on my truck. A lady noticed my G35 and told her husband, "See that. That's what I want."

Come on down, think you'll like us.
 
gjohnsoniv- not to say i doubted you, but i double checked the knife law you referenced and i am happy as a bird with a french fry.

Law got little mention in the media.
 
Tennessee had some crazy law changes on 1 July.

Liquor stores now can sell set-ups. Previously, they couldn't even sell cork screws. Or beer or snacks or cigs. Now they can sell all the above, no doubt a dog yummy to the store owners in advance of the expected new law to allow grocery stores to sell wine, which stands to cost liquor stores them as much as 1/3rd of their gross sales.

Switchblades now are legal (spring assisted opening skirted switchblade laws and made banning them pointless anyway), as are knives longer than 4". And they lifted the ban on butterfly knives, which was nuts to begin with.

And it's no longer running a traffic light if you don't get completely across the intersection before the light turns red. So long as your fronts cross the white "hold short" line on yellow, you're GTG.

Cell phone searches now require a warrant.

If circumstances make lethal injection a non-option, they're authorized to fire up Ol' Sparky again.

It's now legal to grow industrial hemp.

A bystander is immunized against civil damages if he breaks into a hot car to safeguard an unattended child.

And the Senate passed a bill that would have made CCW legal without any permit or certification but the socialists in the House shitcanned it.

Another strange thing about Tennessee is that some of the strongest pro-gun laws are written and proposed by Democrats!
 
Those with a ccw can carry a long gun with loaded mag inserted and the bolt open with out one in the chamber, in the car.
 
About the only thing that isn't legal is the use of NV for hunting. The state has come a long way for pro-gun and other rights over the last seven years I have lived there, but unfortunately I'm now moving to VA for the next four years so I get to suck it again.

Fuck I need to get back out west soon...
 
gjohnsoniv- not to say i doubted you, but i double checked the knife law you referenced and i am happy as a bird with a french fry.

Law got little mention in the media.

No offense there. It got almost no recognition in the news. Only way I found out about it was from another gun site I'm on and they had several threads in regards to it. I'm just happy I can carry my auto knives now.
 
TN was heavily on my list of move to states. But I kept hearing from former TN residents that its a tough place to move to if "you aint from round here". The jist of it was, seems friendly when passing through until you move here. The other common theme was that people with a soft spot for animals, specifically pets, would have a tough time there. Shooting of dogs that may have gotten loose was specifically mentioned. Having half a zoo at my house, it was a concern. Would love to hear from some of my shooting brothers from TN if there is any truth to these comments. AS far as the laws are concerned, for me its hard to fall out of the basement considering im in NJ :/ .
 
TN was heavily on my list of move to states. But I kept hearing from former TN residents that its a tough place to move to if "you aint from round here". The jist of it was, seems friendly when passing through until you move here. The other common theme was that people with a soft spot for animals, specifically pets, would have a tough time there. Shooting of dogs that may have gotten loose was specifically mentioned. Having half a zoo at my house, it was a concern. Would love to hear from some of my shooting brothers from TN if there is any truth to these comments. AS far as the laws are concerned, for me its hard to fall out of the basement considering im in NJ :/ .
Dogs getting shot is a fact of life around here. The county I reside in has a leash law but most ignore it. Better keep em put up if moving to tn. I've had one dog disappear and two make it home with gsw's after they got out. Bothered me a some but that's what happens when dogs get loose in the country. I've shot a couple running deer on my land (90 acres) while I was hunting. I didn't spend all that time and money on stands and food plots to have them ran off by some assholes dog. I also had a loose shepard charge me a few years ago. Luckily I had my .22 pistol on my hip. Head shot at about 5 feet that didn't penetrate but made him do a 180. I personally have no use for idiots that let their dogs run 24/7. If they're on my land or in my yard, unless I know the dog, it's gonna be S.S.S. mainly because I've got grandkids that like to play in the yard. Let the haters hate

Matt
 
What he posted ^^. The only edit I might add is they recently changed the law regarding carry in your car without a permit. I didn't read the details because I have a carry permit but it's something you should look into....
I stand corrected.

The change was two-fold. There was a misconnect with the old Castle Doctrine because it extended to your car and workplace but still required that you have a HCP to go armed in your car lawfully. This change codifies the extension of protection of "private property" laws to your car, HCP or no.

The second change is a "trunk law." No one may deny you the right to store a firearm in your car (secured and out of sight), so long as you're parking somewhere you're authorized to park (public or private parking). Federal school zone laws and such still take precedence. So if you work for Ben & Jerry's ice cream, they can't forbid you to park in their lot with your blunderbuss stored in the trunk.

I don't live with my nose buried in the Tennessee code, but I do like to keep up with the changes. Thanks for that, gjohnsoniv.


A few more that I forgot.

The bill criminalizing spooking game or harassing hunters with drones or UAVs passed and was signed into law this past April.

Tennessee maintains its own mirror to the Fed's National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). When your FFL calls to authorize your BATF Form 4473 for a firearm purchase, he calls to a state office, not to the Feds. Tennessee law requires that the state office expunge all records of the transaction within 24 hours. It keeps the Feds out of the loop and does everything within the state's power to prevent the Fed's having any record of the purchase.

And there is a state law prohibiting any state employee assisting any Federal office in registering firearms owned by Tennesseans or collecting records subsequently to be used in a firearms database.

You legally can CCW in a bar in Tennessee, provided you're not drinking. That probably sounds crazy but Tennessee has some pretty arcane liquor laws. Strictly speaking, there are no pure "bars" in Tennessee, because you can't sell liquor unless you also sell food (but I think a popcorn machine probably would suffice ;) ) Which means all bars must also be restaurants. And except for the dry counties (are there any left?), all 'decent' restaurants sell booze (or allow BYOB). So you'd be severely limited in where you could go to dine and CCW if this were not the case.

I can't believe I'd forgotten to mention my favorite Tennessee gun law, Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1322 (I threw in chapter and verse in case you think I'm bullshitting you and you want to look it up yourself). TCA 39-17-1322 is what's called a "Safe Harbor" clause. It indemnifies you from the firearms-related charges if you are carrying unlawfully but engage in a justifiable shooting. It's as if they're saying, "Okay, the fact that you ended up in a righteous shooting proves you really needed the gun, so we'll let the firearms charge slide ...this time." Which effectively means that so long as you never use your handgun without justification, the only time your HCP will ever do you any good is if you "get made" by an LEO and are caught carrying a firearm ...but didn't shoot anybody.

The nimrods who don't put Tennessee in the Top 10 Most Gun-friendly States just never bothered to look behind the curtain.
 
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Dogs getting shot is a fact of life around here. The county I reside in has a leash law but most ignore it. Better keep em put up if moving to tn.

This happens when dogs start running deer.
If you've ever seen what happens when a few "tame" housedogs do to a cornered deer, you'd see why.
 
I put a bullet in my own dog when he showed aggression towards one of my kids. I have done it to other dogs on my property and will do it again. My dogs don't run loose on my property. I will not have yours running on my property. If you can't deal with that, sucks to be you because I will not loose a blinks worth of sleep over it.

As far as "You aint from around here, Is ya?" Most people think your accent is funny and are ribbing you. You can move here and live here for 20 years and you will never be from "around here". Your children born here will be from "around here" but you never will. Mostly this is any where outside the city limits. Most of the city dwellers are from somewhere else. So they may comment on your foreign accent but they are just funnin ya. Don't ever use the line of "Well I sound like the guy from nightly news" because they will tell you "He aint from round here either". We are having a big influx of "Half Backs". These are the Yankees that went to Florida for a while and decided that TN. is the place to be. Hence they only moved "half back".
Any way most people are generally welcome around here but don't ever ever ever use the idot line of "This is the way we do it where I come from". We don't care!! if it was so great where you came from go back!! Bless your little heart!!
 
Yea I've already been informed what bless your heart really means. :) On the dog topic, I understand about aggression or running dear but accidents happen, as carful as one is, sometimes they get out. Especially with the type of dogs I have. Escape artists! But Id hate to get into a clan war because an accident happened and the dog got out and someone shot my dog. It would not go over well, lets leave it at that. But on the topic of fitting in, I don't think that would be an issue. I have that problem now! NJ hates me and all my guns. And my position on criminals, social programs etc etc certainly don't fit well here either. But I digress. Simply put when I travel for work to places like KY, AZ, TX, I feel way more welcome with my views and attitude on things then I do here!
 
Yea I've already been informed what bless your heart really means. :) On the dog topic, I understand about aggression or running dear but accidents happen, as carful as one is, sometimes they get out. Especially with the type of dogs I have. Escape artists! But Id hate to get into a clan war because an accident happened and the dog got out and someone shot my dog. It would not go over well, lets leave it at that. But on the topic of fitting in, I don't think that would be an issue. I have that problem now! NJ hates me and all my guns. And my position on criminals, social programs etc etc certainly don't fit well here either. But I digress. Simply put when I travel for work to places like KY, AZ, TX, I feel way more welcome with my views and attitude on things then I do here!
I will add that I gave the owners every opportunity to put their dogs up before shooting them. The owners were recent transplants from god knows where. I went and spoke with them about it to no avail. I called animal control twice to no avail. I kept a pellet rifle in my stand and popped them a time or two. They kept coming back every morning and afternoon. Hell, they even had a visible trail cut through the field. There were four or five of them. I got two last season and guess what? They're STILL doing the same shit.

You stated it would not go well for anyone that shot your dog. Don't move near me and let your dogs run cause we'll probably both have a bad day

My wife and grandson were in the yard awhile back while I was weedeating. A large aggressive dog from across the street came running down the driveway towards them. Keep in mind my drive is about 100 yards long through the woods before the yard begins, so this mongrel was on a mission. My dog got between he and they and of course a fight ensued. That dog woulda been DRT if I hadn't noticed the owner and his son running up about 30 seconds later. I pulled the owner aside and let him know what would happen if this occurred again. He agreed with me. He claimed that was the first time the dog had gotten out. That woulda been a hell of a first time had my dog not intervened. They had to chase that idiot dog all over the farm before they finally got ahold of it. So far, so good, haven't seen him since. Hopefully the owner put a bullet in him.

On livestock, it's not so much the weight thing, it's that stressed cows stop producing milk so the calves suffer.

Matt
 
Looks Like my job might be moving me out to TN. Wondering what the freedom was like over there. Got to be a hell of a lot better than where Im at now!

First, welcome to the Southeast! You've received good info on TN gun laws which I'm sure you'll find to be quite different from what you're use to:). While each state is a little different, you'll find all of the states in this area to generally be very firearms friendly.

You might also want to do some research on college football. People here are as passionate about that as we are about our firearms!
 
Guys, thanks for the replies. In the situations described, it sounds like repeated lack of responsibility. And as much as I might hate the animal is paying the price for the stupid owner, I understand. Giving out my number would probably be a good idea. In 5 years my dog only got out once when a visitor let him out the front door. As for being the guy from somewhere else, that I don't care about. Just pick calling me ANYTHING but the guy from Jersey! :D
 
As a rule, tf they run the "blessyourheart" together, sort of dying out on the "heart," often accompanied with a touch on the sleeve, they genuinely mean it. But if they pronounce all four words distinctly, with extra stress on the "bless," what they really mean is "Yer a fuckin' idiot, ain't you, you poor thing."


There's been a state-wide leash law in Tennessee for several years. I find it's best never to warn anybody that their dog is at risk of getting itself shot (unless it's a personal friend), for the simple fact that what you notice others probably also have noticed. In which case, whether it's you who ends up dealing with the dog or not, you done and went and incriminated yourself to the dog's owner. And there's plenty of irrational dog owners in the world who will take matters into their own hands if they think you might have been responsible for Phydeaux's disappearance. IMHO, it's always wise to abide by the 3-S rule.


I think small communities all through the South are xenophobic to some degree, probably moreso than other regions of the country. Everywhere from Thibodaux, Louisiana to Mount Airy, North Carolina. these people have been stigmatized and type-cast and trivialized and mocked for more than a century and a half. You can't rub on a wound for that long without it eventually festers.

Every culture divides the world into "us" and "them" but these small southern towns tend to draw a much smaller circle around the "us" than most. So don't think they've reserved a special aloofness for you Yankees, somebody from two counties over probably is equally suspect.

But rub enough dirt off and you'll generally find there's a truly fine human being underneath. They might be slow to warm to interlopers but they don't give their friendship or their loyalty half-heartedly. Think of yourself as a pledge in the Dixie Fraternity. Tolerate the hazing for a spell, and once they've decide you've endured it with dignity, they'll teach you the secret handshake and draw you to their bosom. And the first round is always on you.
 
What kind of fucked up person does it take to shoot someones dog if it's doing no wrong? Dogs often get out on accident, not a owner intentionally letting them run free. If you shot my dog that got out and wanted to roam you'd be leaking too. Sick sons of bitches.

I guess being a decent human being and return the dog to the owner never crossed your fucking mind.
 
I have a hat that says "Keep The South Beautiful, Put A Yankee On A Bus". See if you can find one and wear it around town; it might lighten the mood. :)
Or, ...

Welcome to Dixie.

Enjoy your visit.

Then get the hell out.
 
What kind of fucked up person does it take to shoot someones dog if it's doing no wrong? Dogs often get out on accident, not a owner intentionally letting them run free. If you shot my dog that got out and wanted to roam you'd be leaking too. Sick sons of bitches.

I guess being a decent human being and return the dog to the owner never crossed your fucking mind.

Get back to me on that after one of your kids gets mauled by one of those dogs that "accidentally" gets out.
At least I put them down right then. A lot of folks around here gut shoot em so they don't have to get rid of the carcass. Those are the sick ones.

Matt
 
I hear ya believe me same way here in upstate ny. Only NYC people usually dont get accepted lol. Had a guy buy a house next to me from the city and hang a rainbow color sign that said something about the GOP agenda. To make a long story short he moved back to where he came from. Theres a couple guys from Texas by me that are lovin the north country and they fit right in. Its beautiful where I live aside from the corrupt political stuff that goes on. Sad that a tiny piece of the state controls the rest because of the population size. Even with all that bullshit I still dont want to leave. But the job might be calling for it. Tennessee is sounding like a good place to be moved to
 
Just an observation. Part of the dog issue as described to me in the NC/GA/TN area, especially in the mountain regions, is the view on cats and dogs is so dim, no one gets their animals fixed and feral animals run rampant. It sounds like a lot of these interactions described are these types and unfortunately Fido gets thrown into the mix.
 
Just an observation. Part of the dog issue as described to me in the NC/GA/TN area, especially in the mountain regions, is the view on cats and dogs is so dim, no one gets their animals fixed and feral animals run rampant. It sounds like a lot of these interactions described are these types and unfortunately Fido gets thrown into the mix.

I just prefer your dog not chase my cows/ calves or my family. Keep your animals on your property and it's all good. If my dogs come on your property I expect that they may not come home. No big deal. I am not going to go postal because of a dog or cat. If your cat decides to climb on my truck or car he is fair game. Nothing worse that a paint job with cat scratches in it. If your cat decides to reside in my barn and kill mice it's fine by me. But not in my garage.
 
I would probably be pretty dang pissed if someone shot Bulleit when he occasionally gets out, considering everyone's dog has done the same and has been given a free pass until the owner retrieved it or they went home to sit on the porch(where I have had Bulleit come after getting out, then barking his announcement that he is now home, much to my suprise).
The three houses Bulleit runs around perimeters all know him, and we owners all know one another. No one here will shoot your dog unless it is killing chickens or attacking folks(door to door sales/Section 8 scam people are open season)
 
also, it is legal to shoot people who vote for tax increases in TN. no kidding.

when I lived up north for 10 years, all you had to say was "it's for the children" and every school levy or property tax increase would pass. in the past 10 years in TN, I can't remember any passing. so my tax bill here is less than half of what it was up there, even though the value of my home is 2x what i had up north. and yet, our roads are much better. but don't expect giant public libraries, etc.
 
I live in east Tennessee near Knoxville and I haven't heard of anybody shootin dogs over here. I would agree though that if your dogs are messin with someone's livestock then it probably won't end well for fido. Livestocks expensive.
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Also, did I read right that auto knives are now legal in TN... Thought those were only legal to be sold to law enforcement? Is that state or federal law?
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I don't think dogs getting shot is a Tennessee thing. Your dog gets out and causes havoc on someone elses land its most likely going to get put down or get some type of warning beforehand. I have had my dog come home before with a deep graze on his leg from either a miss or a warning shot. Never found out from who. It's not uncommon here either
 
Also, did I read right that auto knives are now legal in TN... Thought those were only legal to be sold to law enforcement? Is that state or federal law?
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Legal now for all citizens, not just on duty first responders and military, State Law signed in April and effective 1 July 2014: Tennessee General Assembly » Legislation

Additionally it removed the 4" length rule as well and increased penalties if used in commission of a crime.