Nothing hits wayward politicians where it hurts quite like the possibility of losing taxpayer dollars. This proved to be the case when Memphis leaders were threatened with sales tax revenue being withheld by the state if they moved forward with their controversial gun control referendum.
Just one day after House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R) and Lt. Governor Randy McNally (R) issued an ultimatum warning Memphis that its pipeline to sales tax dollars might be interrupted, the referendum was stripped from the November ballot.
Tennessee has preemption laws that protect Second Amendment rights from suppression by local governments. Despite this, city leaders placed several initiatives on the ballot that would violate the law.
These included prohibiting so-called “assault weapons” and a local version of “red flag” laws.
Sexton and McNally issued a joint statement condemning the city’s effort. “If Memphis leaders do not want to participate within the state and state laws, then they do not need to participate in the state’s successes.”
Sexton went further, accusing Shelby County of having a “progressive, soft-on-crime DA.” He added that with moves by the Memphis City Council intended to nullify state law, “we feel it has become necessary to take action.”
If the public approved the referendum in November, the laws would be added to the city charter.
They would be unenforceable due to state statutes protecting gun rights, but city leaders wanted them on the books as “trigger laws” in the event of a change in Nashville.
Memphis leaders argued to no avail that the western Tennessee city is different from the rest of the state and depends on government assistance.
It is the only U.S. city to make the Numbeo’s Crime Index’s top ten list of the world’s most dangerous cities, coming in at number ten. Baltimore, Detroit and Albuquerque made the top twenty.
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