Two months after signing into law a measure that will allow most adults in the state to carry handguns without permits, Gov. Bill Lee on Wednesday again touted the legislation at a ceremonial bill signing inside a Gallatin gun factory.

The law, which is already being challenged in federal court, takes effect July 1 and makes Tennessee the 19th state in the nation to waive the need for a permit to carry a gun.

“Constitutional carry is long overdue in our state,” Lee said while speaking about the legislation at the Beretta USA firearm manufacturing facility. Employees of the company looked on as Lee and other Republicans spoke and posed for photographs.

The measure was one of Lee’s top legislative priorities for the year, something Republicans in the state tried to pass for years, despite resistance from police, prosecutors and some within their own party. The state’s leading law enforcement groups urged the legislature again this year keep Tennessee’s existing permitting system in place.

The bill will allow people 21 and older to carry handguns openly or concealed without a permit, along with members of the military ages 18 to 20. The new law does not apply to long guns, a point of contention among gun rights activists.

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Some gun rights groups say bill doesn’t go far enough

While the National Rifle Association supported the measure and the organization has been touted by Lee for playing an instrumental role in its passage, other gun rights groups say it doesn’t go far enough.

One such national organization, the Firearms Policy Coalition, filed suit against the state two weeks after the governor signed the bill into law April 8.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in East Tennessee, lists three men between the ages of 18 and 20 as plaintiffs. The Knox County plaintiffs argue they should also be allowed to carry handguns under the permitless carry law.

“Ironically, pursuant to Tennessee (state law), 18-to-20- year-olds may be prosecuted for numerous firearms-related offenses and are thereby considered mature enough to be held fully accountable for their criminal actions,” the lawsuit states, arguing the new law should also apply to individuals who are 18.

As the legislation was moving through the Capitol, some proponents signaled that the General Assembly’s next step would be to expand the permitless carry law to include those young adults who aren’t in the military.

Asked about the prospect of the legislature lowering the age, neither Lee nor Lt. Gov. Randy McNally on Wednesday signaled interest in doing so.

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“I want to make it crystal clear, this is a Second Amendment bill. It is a constitutional carry bill,” said McNally, R-Oak Ridge, who was among the supporters of Lee’s legislation heavily criticized by some gun rights groups for limiting the law to 21 and up and excluding people with impaired driving and stalking convictions.

When the bill passed the House on March 29, Majority Leader William Lamberth, R-Portland, told the chamber it was “not the end of the journey” for expanding gun rights in Tennessee.

In addition to removing Tennessee’s misdemeanor offense for most people who carry a handgun without a permit, the bill also increases punishments for certain gun crimes.

The law boosts theft of a firearm from a misdemeanor to a felony and mandates six months of incarceration for the offense, up from the current 30-day sentence. It also bars felons convicted of possessing a firearm from early release.

Along with people who are already prohibited from receiving a permit, such as felons and those convicted of domestic violence offenses, the new right to permitless carry will not extend to individuals with a conviction of stalking, those with a recent DUI conviction or people who have been committed by the court to a mental institution. 

Beretta opened its 156,000 square foot production facility in Gallatin in 2015 after relocating from Maryland. Former Gov. Bill Haslam and then-economic development commissioner Bill Hagerty, now a U.S. senator, secured the deal and associated economic incentives.

The company received millions of dollars in tax breaks, as well as free land in Gallatin’s industrial park.

Reach Natalie Allison at nallison@tennessean.com. Follow her on Twitter at @natalie_allison.

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