Memphis is one of several cities in states that respect the Second Amendment attempting to buck the law. The municipality recently submitted a ballot to the Tennessee government with a gun control referendum that clearly violated state guidance.
Secretary of State Tre Hargett (R) on Monday ended that foolishness when he rejected the ballot.
Hargett explained the clear logic behind Tennessee’s preemption law regarding gun control. “Common sense says local governments can’t override state law to give a 12-year-old a driver’s license, and they can’t override other state laws either. Memphis has no authority to circumvent state law. Our office will not approve a ballot with items already preempted by state law.”
The city wanted to go its own way and ban so-called “assault weapons,” prohibit constitutional carry by its citizens, institute a municipal red flag law and other contentious measures.
If the state approved the referendum, the gun control measures would be on the November 5 ballot and, if passed, would later become amendments to the Memphis city charter.
Preemption laws prohibit local governments from enacting statutes that counteract state statutes. This prevents a patchwork quilt of regulations that result in an activity being perfectly legal in one town and banned in another.
There is no other constitutional right subject to such suppression, and Tennessee officials established that the Second Amendment is not second-class.
The Volunteer State’s preemption laws read that the General Assembly “preempts the whole field of the regulation of firearms, ammunition, or components of firearms or ammunition or combinations thereof.”
They further banned local enactment of extreme risk protection orders.
City officials defended the referendum by claiming it would act as a “trigger law” as the city would not be capable of enforcing the restrictions. The Memphis city attorney on Monday would not comment on possible legal action against the Secretary of State.
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