The Tennessee state Legislature passed a bill Thursday that would expand the right to use deadly force to include property protection, easing a fear long held by gun owners.
The legislation, which would allow citizens to use deadly force to prevent arson, burglary, animal cruelty and robbery in certain situations, passed on party-line votes in the Republican-dominated Tennessee House of Representatives and Tennessee state Senate. Supporters of the legislation argued that law-abiding citizens should be allowed to protect their life’s work, Nashville-area TV station WKRN reported.
“Right now, under current law, if someone is breaking into your property, if they’re stealing from you, if they’re destroying what you’ve worked your entire life to build, you’re expected to wait,” Republican state Rep. Kip Capley said during debate on the measure. “You’re expected to hesitate. You’re expected to second-guess and take a calculated risk at defending what’s yours.”
In most states, the use of deadly force in self-defense is only permissible in situations where a person has “reasonable fear” of being the victim of a violent crime, according to CriminalDefenseLawyer.com.
“Under traditional self-defense laws, the act of brandishing or firing a gun is evaluated like any other use of force. The main question is whether using a gun was reasonably necessary and proportional to an imminent threat of unlawful force,” the site says. “For instance, when an attacker raises a fist or throws a punch, the victim can’t just pull a gun and shoot. A gunshot in these circumstances would normally be more force than necessary for self-protection from non-deadly force.”
“Before using deadly force, a victim must reasonably fear deadly force, which most states define as the threat of being gravely injured or killed or subject to a violent felony (rape, kidnapping, or robbery),” the site states.
The United States Concealed Carry Association said they would advise their members in the state about what the legislation would mean.
“USCCA believes law-abiding Americans have the right to protect themselves, their families, and their homes,” USCCA Communications Director Michael McGonigle told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Tennessee’s legislature has spoken on this issue, and we’ll make sure our members understand what it means for them. As always, we encourage every gun owner to know their state’s laws, get proper training, and carry responsibly.”
Republican Gov. Bill Lee did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the DCNF about his position on the bill, which is headed to his desk. Opponents of the legislation maintained that people shouldn’t die over property.
“We were taught you don’t kill people over property is because they are not putting at risk an innocent human life,” Democratic state Rep. Justin Pearson said. “What this legislation seems to be doing is lowering that threshold significantly and substantially, and the department is going to have to reteach in future classes for those who get their lifetime permit that you can now kill people over property, and I don’t think that is right.”
Other Democrats who opposed the legislation resorted to personal insults against the bill’s sponsor. Democratic state Rep. Justin Jones took a shot at Capley’s appearance during the debate.
“I think the people of your district deserve better, and I hope you will be very serious in considering legislation like this, and you can laugh all you want, but I can see your answers are nonexistent just like your hairline,” Jones said before he was ruled to have broken the rules of the legislative body.
Pearson and Jones were expelled from the Legislature briefly in 2023 after the Tennessee state capitol was stormed by anti-Second Amendment protesters days after Audrey Hale, a 28-year-old female who identified as transgender, killed three children and three adults at Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, before being engaged and fatally wounded by law enforcement,
The National Rifle Association did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the DCNF.
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