Under the current TN law, in most situations, people are prohibited from using deadly force to defend their property from theft or when making a citizen’s arrest, even if they don’t pull the trigger.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A bill that would have allowed Tennesseans to use deadly force to defend their property could be reintroduced this upcoming legislative session following reports of looting from flood victims in East Tennessee.
The Washington County Sheriff’s Office arrested eight men on Sept. 28 for allegedly looting flood-ravaged structures. Deputies charged some of the men with burglary and others with aggravated burglary “for breaking into occupied structures,” the social media post said.
According to the sheriff’s office, the men were released from jail after posting their bonds, which a judge lowered from $20,000 to $1,000 during their first court appearance Sept. 30.
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John Harris, the executive director of the Tennessee Firearms Association believes theft victims should be armed with the power to protect their personal and real property.
However, under the current law, unless in self-defense, people are prohibited from using deadly force to stop their property from being stolen or when making a citizen’s arrest, even if they don’t pull the trigger.
“Business owners are literally incapacitated if someone comes in and wants to loot their business during a crisis like what we’re seeing in East Tennessee. They can’t stop them by brandishing a weapon and saying, ‘Get out of my property,’ or ‘Drop that inventory and leave.’ That would be a Class C felony.”
Harris believes the current law has tied flood victims’ hands by preventing them from being able to adequately defend their property. He hopes lawmakers pass a bill that would allow citizens to use deadly force to protect their possessions and homes from looters and other thieves.
At least two similar bills were presented to the General Assembly in recent years but were both killed before making it to committee.
“We hope that unfortunate circumstances with Helene are going to open [lawmakers’] eyes and cause them to rethink their position on this issue, but it may not,” Harris said.
Harris said another avenue the group could take to change the law would be to challenge its constitutionality in court under the Supreme Court’s 2022 Bruen ruling, which set new guidelines for courts to use when determining whether a gun law is constitutional. The ruling said gun laws cannot be more restrictive than the laws that were in place when the Second Amendment was adopted.
Harris argued back then, there were no laws that prohibited someone from using deadly force to protect their property.
“All you have to do is watch a western and you’ll see real quick they hung horse thieves and frequently without a trial,” Harris said. “We don’t advocate for that, but we do think people shouldn’t be victimized twice, whether it’s the riots that took place in Nashville or being the victim of a flood, by having to also stand by and be rendered helpless by laws that say you can’t even brandish a weapon to be able to protect your stuff when everybody knows there’s no way law enforcement is going to be able to get there and help you.”