On Aug. 22, a Tennessee three-judge panel struck down the state’s Jim Crow-era “intent to go armed” and parks gun bans. After 154 years—and despite GOP supermajorities blocking reform—constitutional rights were finally upheld.
By TruthWire News
On August 22, 2025, a three-judge panel in Gibson County issued a sweeping ruling that declared unconstitutional two of Tennessee’s most controversial gun laws: the state’s “intent to go armed” statute and its prohibition on firearms in public parks. The decision not only corrects a 154-year injustice but also underscores a sobering truth—despite 25 years of Republican control, including a 16-year supermajority, Tennessee’s legislature repeatedly refused to act, leaving it to the courts to protect citizens’ rights.
A Law Born in Jim Crow
The “intent to go armed” statute, Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1307(a)(1), dates back to 1871. Crafted during the Reconstruction era, its purpose was clear: to prevent newly freed Black citizens from exercising their Second Amendment rights. By criminalizing the mere act of carrying a firearm “with the intent to go armed”—even on one’s own property—the law created a tool for arbitrary arrests and intimidation.
For generations, this provision allowed law enforcement to stop and detain anyone seen carrying a firearm. The burden fell on the citizen to prove in court that they were legally exempt. What should have been a guaranteed constitutional right was, in practice, treated as a privilege the state could rescind at will.
A Legislature That Would Not Act
Despite the law’s discriminatory origins and obvious constitutional flaws, Tennessee’s legislature never repealed it. For the last quarter century, the General Assembly has been under Republican control. For the past 16 years, Republicans have held a supermajority.
Yet, during all that time, every effort to repeal the statute was blocked. The Tennessee Firearms Association (TFA), led by John Harris, repeatedly lobbied for reform. Year after year, proposals were buried in committee or voted down. The very lawmakers who campaigned on protecting gun rights shielded one of the most glaring infringements in the state code.
It took a lawsuit—brought by three individual plaintiffs, joined by Gun Owners of America and the Gun Owners Foundation, and argued by Harris—to finally accomplish what Tennessee’s legislature refused to do.
The Court’s Ruling: Criminalizing a Right
The three-judge panel—Chancellor Michael Mansfield, Judge M. Wyatt Burk, and Judge Lisa Nidiffer Rice—was direct in its finding:
“The Going Armed Statute criminalizes conduct within the scope of the Second Amendment. Such conduct is presumed to be constitutionally protected—in other words, this statute is presumed to be unconstitutional—unless Defendants can demonstrate that regulation of carrying a weapon with the intent to go armed is within the historical tradition of this nation.”
The judges emphasized that Tennessee’s statute effectively outlawed the core of the Second Amendment itself:
“Defendants’ arguments to the contrary are unpersuasive because they make no defense of nor even address the constitutional infirmity at the heart of the statute—the criminalization of the constitutional right to bear arms.”
Citing the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Bruen (2022), the panel reminded the state:
“The constitutional right to bear arms in public for self-defense is not a second-class right, subject to an entirely different body of rules than the other Bill of Rights guarantees.”
The Parks Statute Falls as Well
The plaintiffs also challenged Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1311(a), which banned firearms in public parks, playgrounds, and civic centers. The state attempted to justify this law by arguing that such places are “sensitive” locations similar to schools or courthouses.
The judges rejected the argument outright:
“In our view, none of these locations are analogous to a school, legislative assembly, polling place, or courthouse. These places are first and foremost recreational… Attendance is voluntary, and parents may continue to watch over their children. Thus, none of the enumerated locations are sufficiently similar to justify regulating firearms there.”
Relief for All Tennesseans
The state argued that even if the plaintiffs prevailed, relief should be limited only to them. The court dismissed that position as indefensible:
“No government official, or the public for that matter, has a legitimate interest in the enforcement of unconstitutional laws. Tennesseans that are not party to this action may unintentionally benefit from the protection of their constitutional rights, but no right of theirs could be prejudiced.”
In short, the ruling applies statewide.
The Supreme Court Trail That Led Here
This Tennessee decision did not emerge in a vacuum. It stands on the shoulders of major U.S. Supreme Court rulings that reshaped the landscape of Second Amendment rights:
- District of Columbia v. Heller (2008): Recognized the individual right to possess firearms for self-defense in the home.
- McDonald v. Chicago (2010): Incorporated the Second Amendment against the states, making it enforceable against Tennessee.
- Caetano v. Massachusetts (2016): Held that even modern arms fall under Second Amendment protection.
- N.Y. State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen (2022): Required that gun regulations be consistent with the nation’s historical tradition, flipping the burden of proof onto the government.
- United States v. Rahimi (2024): Reaffirmed that restrictions must be narrowly tailored and historically grounded, not based on modern policy preferences.
Together, these precedents left Tennessee with no constitutional defense for laws that criminalized the very act of bearing arms.
A Century and a Half in the Making
This ruling is more than a legal victory. It is a reckoning with Tennessee’s past. For 154 years, a statute rooted in Reconstruction-era racism denied Tennesseans a fundamental right. For 25 years, a Republican legislature—with 16 years of unchecked supermajority power—refused to correct it.
It took ordinary citizens, backed by grassroots organizations, to finally bring the challenge and secure victory.
The court’s conclusion could not have been clearer:
“Accordingly, the Going Armed Statute and the Parks Statute are hereby declared unconstitutional, void, and of no effect.”
History will record this as the day Tennessee finally overturned one of its longest-standing violations of the Bill of Rights.
Read the entire ruling here.
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