Tenn. gun bills up for legislative review

Two target handgun-carry rules on campuses

NASHVILLE — A Senate committee will consider four bills today to make it easier for handgun-carry permit holders to go armed on college campuses, hold property owners liable for injuries suffered by a carry-permit holder and require private schools to have gun policies.

The gun bills are the first of several filed in the current legislative session coming up for public review, including a comprehensive bill that, among other things, would void local ordinances that ban the firing of guns in residentia l neighborhoods. That bill, Senate Bill 2273, has not been scheduled for review.

The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to hear these bills in its 3:30 p.m. meeting:

SB 1736, which declares that a person or business entity posting signs prohibiting g uns on the property becomes liable if a handgun-carry permit holder is harmed, injured or killed. The owner would be responsible for damages, attorneys fees, expert witness expenses and other costs of a lawsuit. The responsibility of the owner would extend “to the conduct of other invitees, trespassers, employees, vicious animals, wild animals, and defensible man-made and natural hazards.” The bill is sponsored by Sen. Dolores Gresham, R-Somerville, and Rep. Jeremy Faison, R-Newport.

SB1559, requiring all private K-12 schools and private colleges and universities to implement a written handgun- ca rr y policy that either permits or prohibits permit holders to go armed on the school grounds and buildings, or parts of the campus. By Sen. Mike Bell, R-Athens, and Rep. Tilman Goins, R-Morristown.

SB2376, allowing fulltime employees of public colleges and universities who have handgun-carry permits to go armed on any university-owned or controlled property. By Bell and Rep. Andy Holt, R-Dresden.

SB1991, banning state colleges and universities from taking “any adverse action” against an employee or student with a carry permit for transporting or storing a gun or ammunition in their parked vehicle on campus. The billi san expansion of the“guns in parking lots” act of 2014, allowing employees with permits to keep guns in their vehicles on their employer’s property, even if against the business’s policies . By Sen . Bria n Kelsey, R- Germantown, and Rep. Courtney Rogers, R-Hendersonville.