NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — While the idea hasn’t made it far in the Tennessee legislature in the past, the safe storage of firearms is again up for debate.
A handful of bills aimed at regulating the storage of firearms in vehicles have been introduced — and some revived — by Democratic lawmakers during the 113th General Assembly.
It's something that has been an ongoing issue in cities like Nashville, where police reported that 77% of stolen guns were taken from cars last year — adding up to 1,203 guns in the wrong hands by the end of 2023.
“There’s just an overwhelming amount of firearms on the street right now, and a lot of times, juveniles who legally shouldn’t have a gun, more than likely they may be breaking into a vehicle and [took] those guns and used them,” Lt. Chris Dickerson told News 2 in a recent interview.
Auto thefts in Nashville alone rose nearly 74% last year, according to data from the police department. And often, police said there is a "correlation between stolen vehicles and homicides," which have hit numbers over 100 for the last few years.
"There is a clear nexus; guns change hands, we know that," Lt. Brent Gibson told News 2. "It’s not often for us to find a gun on a homicide scene that was used in a drive-by shooting months earlier on the other side of Nashville.”
After several unsuccessful efforts to urge firearm owners to lock up their weapons, Metro Police Chief John Drake issued a letter to the chairman of the House Criminal Justice Subcommittee last year calling on lawmakers to pass legislation that would hold people accountable.
“I am asking for your help on the front end,” Drake said in his letter. “I am asking for the assistance of our legislature to, in its wisdom, help us to convince/deter lawful gun owners from leaving firearms unsecured in unattended vehicles.”
A bill filed by Rep. Caleb Hemmer (D-Davidson County) during the start of the session last year sought to address the issue by making it a misdemeanor for gun owners to improperly store firearms or ammunition in a car or boat.
The legislation would also require gun owners to report the loss or theft within 24 hours.
Instead of a fine or jail time, violators would be required to complete a court-approved firearm safety course. However, the bill, which co-sponsor Sen. Jeff Yarbro (D-Nashville) has said he plans to revive this year, died in the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“What we can’t do is just let members on these committees decide that doing nothing is okay,” Yarbro told News 2 in a September 2023 interview.
A similar bill filed by Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) later in the session will also be back up for discussion. The legislation would make it a crime to improperly store a firearm or ammunition in a vehicle, with exceptions if the owner is present or the firearm is inside a locked compartment.
However, Pearson's bill seeks a tougher penalty, creating a fine of up to $500 for anyone who leaves a firearm in their vehicle without locking it up.
Hemmer and Yarbro are also sponsoring a bill that would put the regulation of firearms in vehicles into the hands of local governments. The catch is the bill would only apply in counties with a population greater than 98,800 based on the 2020 federal census, or a subsequent census.
That includes 14 counties in Tennessee, with Shelby, Davidson and Knox being some of the largest. Other local governments that would have control of regulation under the bill would be in Hamilton, Rutherford, Williamson, Montgomery, Sumner, Sullivan, Wilson, Blount, Washington, Bradley and Maury Counties.
The bill also stipulates that local governments would only be able to regulate storage of firearms in vehicles when the vehicle is unoccupied. However, these pieces of legislation are amid a number of gun-related bills that might face some difficulty in getting passed this year.
Although thousands protested for stricter gun control in the aftermath of the Covenant School shooting that left six people dead, no legislation was passed, and Republican lawmakers have said they don't plan to pass any bills that would "limit guns" during this session either.
“We don’t need to be imposing restrictions on the rights of law-abiding citizens,” Sen. Jack Johnson (R-Franklin) told News 2 in another interview last week. “We do need to be cracking down on those committing the crimes.”
Some Republican lawmakers have shown support for safe storage bills in the past. However, others like Sen. Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald) have called the idea a violation of the Second Amendment.
Hundreds of bills will be up for debate during the General Assembly. Tennessee lawmakers shared their thoughts on some of the major issues up for discussion at this year’s legislative session.
You can also find daily coverage from the session here.
from WKRN News 2 https://ift.tt/f8G3ERV
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