Tennessee’s attempt to revive two gun-control statutes moved to the Court of Appeals on June 23, 2026, as judges heard argument in Stephen L. Hughes, et al. v. Bill Lee, et al., a major right-to-carry case challenging the state’s “Going Armed” law and its ban on carrying firearms in many public recreational areas.
The case stems from a ruling by a special three-judge Chancery Court panel that declared Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1307(a)(1), the state’s “Going Armed” statute, and Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1311(a), the Parks Statute, unconstitutional, void, and of no effect.
At issue is whether Tennessee can continue treating ordinary public carry as a criminal offense under a vague “intent to go armed” theory, and whether the state can broadly prohibit carry across large areas of public land. For gun owners, the case is about far more than technical statutory language. It is about whether Tennessee’s carry laws can survive the Supreme Court’s modern Second Amendment test after Heller, Bruen, and Rahimi.
The laws are leftovers from the Reconstruction era, when they were designed to keep freed slaves and other disfavored groups disarmed. Here is a link to a copy of the order of the three judge panel.
Click the link to read the whole article: Tennessee Fights to Revive “Going Armed” Law
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