MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Shelby County Chancellor Melanie Taylor Jefferson ruled three gun safety measures for Memphis can be on the November ballot.
Memphis City Council approved a measure in July for the November 2024 ballot for voters to decide whether to amend the City of Memphis charter to restrict gun carry within the city, despite the Tennessee law allowing for permitless carry.
The ballot measure reads:
“Shall the Charter of the City of Memphis be amended to read:
- No person shall be allowed to carry a handgun in the City of Memphis without possessing a valid handgun carry permit.
- No person shall be allowed to carry, store, or travel with a handgun in a vehicle in the City of Memphis without possessing a valid handgun permit.
- It shall be unlawful for a person to store a firearm, whether loaded or unloaded, or firearm ammunition, in a motor vehicle or boat while the person is not in the motor vehicle or boat unless the firearm or firearm ammunition is kept from ordinary observation and locked within the trunk, utility or glove box, or a locked container securely affixed to the motor vehicle or boat."
Tennessee’s House Speaker and Lieutenant Governor said in August that they wanted to withhold state sales tax revenue from Memphis over the ballot referendum.
House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) and Lt. Gov. Randy McNally (R-Oak Ridge) said in a statement that they want to block local governments from attempting “to circumvent state law by politicized ballot measures or ordinances.”
Memphis City Council members filed a lawsuit against the Shelby County Election Commission that month.
The Shelby County Commission voted during Monday night's commission meeting to support the City of Memphis in its lawsuit to put the gun safety ordinances on the November ballot.
A Memphis City Council spokesperson said they won their lawsuit on Wednesday, Sept. 11.
Taylor Jefferson issued a writ of mandamus, a court order requiring a government official to perform a duty. This is what granted the motion to keep the gun reform bill on the ballot until it has been voted on by the people.
Shelby County Commissioner Erika Sugarmon said the commission should be able to govern themselves.
She believes allowing county residents to take up those ordinances to a vote in November could help prevent incidents such as the deadly mass shooting in a Georgia school from happening in Shelby County.
Sugarmon said taxpayers - not state officials - should be making the decision on gun safety measures.
"We have home rule, we know what's best for our citizens; but more than that, the voters know what's best for themselves," she said. "So don't disenfranchise our people. Let us vote, and we can make the decision. Whether we vote up or down, it's up to us."
