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HB0588 • 2026

Criminal Offenses

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 39, Chapter 14, Part 1; Title 39, Chapter 17, Part 13 and Title 40, relative to criminal offenses.

Crime Firearms
Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor
Butler, Bailey
Last action
2025-03-19
Official status
Taken off notice for cal in s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee of Judiciary Committee
Effective date
Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

The bill summary does not provide information about funding for incarceration or enforcement mechanisms, leaving these points as unknowns.

Making It a Crime to Mess with Gun Serial Numbers

This bill makes altering or hiding serial numbers on firearms and antique firearms illegal in Tennessee, classifying such actions as Class E felonies with mandatory minimum sentences.

What This Bill Does

  • Creates a new law that says changing or hiding the serial number of a firearm or antique firearm is against the law.
  • Makes selling, buying, or owning a firearm with its serial number altered illegal.
  • Sets a punishment of at least 180 days in jail for anyone who breaks this new rule.

Who It Names or Affects

  • People who own firearms or antique firearms
  • Anyone who sells, buys, or changes the serial number on a firearm

Terms To Know

Class E felony
A serious crime that has specific penalties set by law.
Serial Number
A unique number assigned to each firearm when it is made, used for identification and tracking.

Limits and Unknowns

  • The bill does not specify what happens if someone accidentally damages a serial number.
  • It's unclear how this law will be enforced or how many people might break it.
  • There are no details on how the state will fund the increased costs of incarcerating offenders.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

Amendment 1-0 to SB0243

Plain English: The amendment adds a new subsection to Tennessee law that makes it illegal for someone to alter or hide the serial number of a firearm or antique firearm and imposes a mandatory minimum sentence for violating this rule.

  • Adds a new subsection (b) to Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 39-14-134, which criminalizes knowingly altering, covering, defacing, destroying, obliterating, or removing the serial number of firearms or antique firearms with intent to conceal their identity.
  • Establishes that selling, purchasing, or possessing a firearm or antique firearm whose serial number has been altered as described is also an offense under this new subsection.
  • The amendment text does not specify the exact penalties for selling, purchasing, or possessing such firearms beyond stating it's an offense.
  • It is unclear what specific actions are considered 'concealing' or 'misrepresenting' the identity of a firearm under this new law.

Bill History

  1. 2025-03-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to General Subcommittee of Senate Finance, Ways & Means Committee

  2. 2025-03-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Taken off notice for cal in s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee of Judiciary Committee

  3. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 3/19/2025

  4. 2025-03-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action Def. in s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee to 3/19/2025

  5. 2025-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 3/12/2025

  6. 2025-03-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action Def. in s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee to 3/12/2025

  7. 2025-03-04 Tennessee General Assembly

    Recommended for passage with amendment/s, refer to Senate Finance, Ways, and Means Committee Ayes 8, Nays 0 PNV 0

  8. 2025-02-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 3/5/2025

  9. 2025-02-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action Def. in s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee to 3/5/2025

  10. 2025-02-26 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 3/4/2025

  11. 2025-02-25 Tennessee General Assembly

    Action deferred in Senate Judiciary Committee to 3/4/2025

  12. 2025-02-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 2/26/2025

  13. 2025-02-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Meeting Canceled

  14. 2025-02-19 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on Senate Judiciary Committee calendar for 2/25/2025

  15. 2025-02-12 Tennessee General Assembly

    Placed on s/c cal Criminal Justice Subcommittee for 2/19/2025

  16. 2025-02-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor change.

  17. 2025-02-11 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) withdrawn.

  18. 2025-02-10 Tennessee General Assembly

    Passed on Second Consideration, refer to Senate Judiciary Committee

  19. 2025-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Sponsor(s) Added.

  20. 2025-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    Assigned to s/c Criminal Justice Subcommittee

  21. 2025-02-05 Tennessee General Assembly

    P2C, ref. to Judiciary Committee

  22. 2025-02-03 Tennessee General Assembly

    Intro., P1C.

  23. 2025-01-30 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

  24. 2025-01-27 Tennessee General Assembly

    Introduced, Passed on First Consideration

  25. 2025-01-22 Tennessee General Assembly

    Filed for introduction

Official Summary Text

Abstract summarizes the bill.

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text 
SENATE BILL 243
By Bailey

HOUSE BILL 588
By Butler

HB0588
000907
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 39,
Chapter 14, Part 1; Title 39, Chapter 17, Part 13
and Title 40, relative to criminal offenses.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 39-14-134, is amended by adding
the following as a new subsection (b) and redesignating the existing subsection (b) accordingly:
(b)
(1) It is an offense for a person to knowingly and with the intent to
conceal or misrepresent the identity of a firearm or antique firearm to:
(A) Alter, cover, deface, destroy, or remove the permanent serial
number, manufacturer's identification plate, or another permanent
distinguishing number from a firearm or antique firearm; or
(B) Sell, purchase, or possess such a firearm or antique firearm.
(2) A violation of this subsection (b) is a Class E felony, punishable by a
mandatory minimum sentence of one hundred eighty (180) days incarceration.
The defendant is not eligible for release from confinement until the defendant has
served the entire one-hundred-eighty-day mandatory minimum sentence.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect July 1, 2025, the public welfare requiring it.