Firearms and Ammunition

Plain English Breakdown

The official source material does not provide information on the enforcement mechanisms or consequences for non-compliance with the new requirements outlined in the bill.

Firearms Dispossession for Domestic Violence Orders

This bill requires people who are ordered to give up their firearms due to domestic violence to provide more details about where those guns go and who gets them.

What This Bill Does

• Adds a rule that when someone is told to hand over their guns because of a protection order, they must name the person getting the guns and where those guns are kept.
• Requires the person receiving the firearms to sign a paper saying they got the guns from the respondent.

Who It Names or Affects

• People who are ordered by the court to hand over their firearms because they have violated a protection order for domestic violence.
• The third parties who receive and store firearms on behalf of someone under a protection order.

Terms To Know

Order of Protection

A legal document that tells someone to stop hurting or threatening another person, often used in cases of domestic violence.

Respondent

The person who is ordered by the court to give up their firearms because they are violating a protection order.

Limits and Unknowns

• Does not specify what happens if the third party does not sign the affidavit or cannot be found.
• Does not provide details on how enforcement of this new requirement will occur.
• The bill's effectiveness depends on it being passed by both houses of the Tennessee General Assembly and signed into law.

Official Summary Text

Upon i
ssuance of an order of protection that fully complies with federal law, present law requires the order to include on its face the following disclosures:



That the respondent is required to dispossess the respondent by any lawful means, such as transferring possession to a third party who is not prohibited from possessing firearms, of all firearms the respondent possesses within 48 hours of the issuance of the order.



That the respondent is prohibited from possessing a firearm for so long as the order of protection or any successive order of protection is in effect, and may reassume possession of the dispossessed firearm at such time as the order expires or is otherwise no longer in effect.



Notice of the penalty for any violation.

In determining what a law
ful means of dispossession is, present law provides the following guidance:



If the dispossession requires the approval of any state or federal agency prior to the transfer of the firearm, the respondent may comply with the dispossession requirement by having the firearm or firearms placed into a safe or similar container that is securely locked and to which the respondent does not have the combination, keys, or other means of normal access.



If the respondent is licensed as a federal firearms dealer or a responsible party under a federal firearms license, the determination of whether such an individual possesses firearms that constitute business inventory under the federal license is determined based upon the applicable federal statutes or the rules, regulations and official letters, rulings, and publications of the bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives. The order of protection must not require the surrender or transfer of the inventory if there are one or more individuals who are responsible parties under the federal license who are not the respondent subject to the order of protection.

This bill adds to such guidance that if the respondent dispossesses firearms by transferring possession to a third party who is not prohibited from possessin
g firearms, then the respondent must specify the name of the third party and the physical address where all firearms are located. The third party's signature acknowledging receipt of the respondent's firearms is required on the affidavit of firearms disp
o
ssession form.

Current Bill Text

SENATE BILL 1244
By Massey

HOUSE BILL 1210
By Keisling

HB1210
003126
- 1 -

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 36,
Chapter 3, Part 6, relative to domestic violence.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 36-3-625(f), is amended by adding
the following as a new subdivision:
(3) If the respondent dispossesses firearms by transferring possession to a third
party who is not prohibited from possessing firearms, then the respondent shall specify
the name of the third party and the physical address where all firearms are located. The
third party's signature acknowledging receipt of the respondent's firearms is required on
the affidavit of firearms dispossession form.
SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it.