NASHVILLE, TN (WGNS) - The long‑running fight over two of Tennessee’s most debated gun laws took another turn this week. On March 6, 2026, a group of plaintiffs — Stephen Hughes, Duncan O’Mara, Elaine Kehel, Gun Owners of America, Inc., and Gun Owners Foundation — filed their joint Appellees’ brief, urging the Court of Appeals to uphold a sweeping 2025 trial court ruling that struck down both statutes as unconstitutional.

At the center of the case are two laws that have shaped how Tennesseans carry firearms for decades. The first, Tennessee Code Annotated § 39‑17‑1307(a), is better known as the “Going Armed Statute.” It makes it a crime to carry a firearm “with the intent to go armed,” even inside one’s own home. The plaintiffs argue that the statute flips the constitutional right to keep and bear arms on its head, treating the act of carrying as a crime first and a right only if a person can later prove an affirmative defense.

The second law, § 39‑17‑1311(a), often called the “Parks Statute,” bans firearms in parks and other public recreational spaces — places the plaintiffs say are ordinary, nonsensitive, and historically open to lawful carry. Together, they argue, the two laws give law enforcement broad authority to stop, question, detain, and arrest people solely because they exercised a right explicitly protected by both the Tennessee Constitution and the Second Amendment.

The trial court agreed last August, when a unanimous three‑judge panel ruled that both statutes violate the state constitution. But the State of Tennessee appealed, setting up the current fight. In their new brief, the plaintiffs say the state’s position effectively makes carrying a firearm a crime “every single time,” no matter the location — even on one’s own property.

Gun rights advocates, including the Tennessee Firearms Association, have been pushing for years to repeal these laws. But despite the trial court’s ruling, the Republican supermajority in the Legislature has not moved to strike them from the books. Administrations under former Gov. Bill Haslam and current Gov. Bill Lee, along with the TBI, Department of Safety, and many local law enforcement leaders, have long defended the statutes as constitutional.

That stance is now becoming a campaign issue. Two Republican candidates for governor — Rep. Monty Fritts and Congressman John Rose — have publicly sided with the trial court and criticized the state’s appeal. Several candidates for local, state, and federal offices have echoed that position, calling for full repeal. A bill to eliminate both statutes is technically still alive this session, but it appears to be stuck in committee with no clear path forward.

With the appeal now fully briefed, the next move belongs to the appellate judges — and whatever they decide will ripple through Tennessee’s ongoing debate over gun rights, public safety, and the limits of state authority.