Tennessee lawmakers are pushing HB 1971, a bill that would make it far harder to remove unconstitutional laws from the books, including unconstitutional gun laws.

Right now, Tennessee law gives citizens and organizations a clear legal pathway to ask a court whether a state law violates the Constitution. This allows unconstitutional laws to be challenged and stopped before anyone is arrested, fined, or prosecuted.

HB 1971 would eliminate that pathway.

If this bill passes, Tennessee law would no longer clearly allow citizens to challenge the constitutionality of state statutes in court. Instead, the bill rewrites the law to allow constitutional challenges only against local governments, while expressly excluding challenges to laws passed by the Legislature itself.

In plain terms, unconstitutional gun laws passed by the state could remain on the books with no clear way for citizens to ask a court to strike them down.

This is especially dangerous for the Second Amendment. Many gun laws restrict or chill lawful conduct without ever resulting in an arrest. Under HB 1971, those laws could avoid meaningful judicial review, not because they are constitutional, but because the Legislature has blocked access to the courts.

Courts exist to stop unconstitutional laws, not to shield them from review.

Use the form at the top of this page to email your legislators and ask for a NO vote on HB 1971.