Tennessee Attorney General Addresses Hughes v. Lee at Brentwood Meeting with Conservative Voters
AG Skrmetti defended Tennessee’s gun law on procedure, not constitutionality, arguing courts must defer to lawmakers despite acknowledged defects.
BRENTWOOD, Tenn. — Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti appeared in person at a small group discussion in Brentwood attended by approximately 40 conservative voters, where he addressed questions surrounding Hughes v. Lee, the ongoing litigation challenging Tennessee’s “intent to go armed” statute and related firearms restrictions.
Skrmetti opened the discussion by outlining his office’s rationale for continuing to defend the statute, despite a unanimous three-judge panel having ruled portions of the law unconstitutional. His explanation centered not on support for the substance of the law, but on procedural doctrine and separation-of-powers concerns.
The Attorney General’s stated rationale
Skrmetti emphasized that Hughes v. Lee was brought as a facial constitutional challenge, rather than an as-applied challenge. He explained that under established constitutional law, facial challenges are subject to a high evidentiary burden: plaintiffs must show that no set of circumstances exists under which the law could be constitutionally applied.
