Dr. Carole Myers
Welcome to Health Connections, the show about people, health and policy. I'm Dr Carole Myers. Several weeks ago, Beth Joslin Roth, a Tennessee General Assembly staff member, researcher and advocate, provided a profile of gun violence in Tennessee. Tennessee is an outlier, and the problems we face are worsening today, we turn our attention to what can be done to reduce firearm deaths and injuries. Welcome Beth.
Beth Joslin Roth
Hi. Thanks for having me.
Tennessee is classified as a right to carry state. What does this mean?
That term can mean a lot of different things, but in the current climate, here in Tennessee, basically anyone who is legally allowed to have a gun is allowed to carry that gun pretty much anywhere they want, whether or not they have any type of gun permit or not.
And how common is this across the United States Beth?
It's not super common. I would say maybe around half the states are right to carry maybe fewer. It is a trend we are starting to see more of though, which is unfortunate, because what we generally see is that states that have those more permissive gun laws generally see significantly higher rates of firearm injury and death.
What are some dangerous loopholes in Tennessee gun laws?
In the state of Tennessee, it's illegal to to sell a gun to a person that you know or should reasonably know is not allowed to have a gun. It is a crime to do that. However, it is not against the law to give loan or transfer a gun to a person that you know to be prohibited. Tennessee is one of a handful of states that allows for something called third party dispossession. What that means is, under state and federal law, if you commit a crime or you're under some type of an order of protection, you are required to dispossess your guns, which means you have to get rid of them. In most states, you have to get rid of them by either surrendering them to law enforcement or selling them. In Tennessee, like I said, we're one of a handful of states that allows for third party dispossession, which means that you can just give your gun to a friend to hold for you. Of the states that allow third party dispossession, Tennessee is the only one that requires absolutely no information about that third party be provided to the court. That's a pretty concerning loophole. It's something that the domestic violence community has been focused on for a number of years trying to get that loophole closed. It's something that law enforcement has a lot of problems with as well. That's a pretty significant loophole that we are working to get closed. Some other legislation that we have looked at trying to get passed up here is the idea of of an extreme risk protection order, which basically is a way that a a friend or family member who suspects that their loved one is a danger to themselves or others could petition a court to temporarily remove firearms from that person until they have worked through their mental health crisis.
Guns and Trunks has been cited as a problem in Tennessee that needs to be addressed. Can you explain what this is and what needs to be done?
Back in I think it was maybe 2012 or 2013 the General Assembly passed a law. The first version of it would allow a gun permit holder to store a gun in their vehicle, even if their vehicle was parked on private property, even if the private property owner did not want firearms on their property. It's created, you know, some friction between the business community that felt that they should, you know, have property rights, and then those folks from the Second Amendment side who felt otherwise. The bill passed, and then it was expanded the next year to not just permit holders, but anyone with a firearm. Now, the issue with the bill is that the way it was drafted and the way it was passed, it requires you, if you're going to have a gun and store it in your car, you must store it in a locked vehicle out of ordinary view. There is no consequence if you don't store your gun that way. And the reason that that's important is what we've seen is, since that law passed, we have seen a dramatic spike in the number of guns that are have been stolen out of vehicles. Most of these guns are stolen out of unlocked cars, and most of the guns, rather than be locked up in a glove box or a trunk, are actually being stored in the console of the car or in between, say, the driver's side and console like easily seen from outside of the vehicle. So we've seen this spike in gun thefts. I mean, a dramatic spike, but in that same. Period of time where we've seen this spike in gun thefts, we have seen a dramatic spike in gun homicides.
This is Dr Carol Myers, joined today by Beth. Joslin Roth. Thank you for listening to Health Connections. All Past episodes are available at WUOT.org for on demand, listening. And listeners, your suggestions and comments are always welcome.
