Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

Tennessee Senate Bill SB0642 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1
2	2	HOUSE BILL 596
3	3	By Freeman
4	4
5	5	SENATE BILL 642
6	6	By Campbell
7	7
8	8
9	9	SB0642
10	10	000985
11	11	- 1 -
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13	13	AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 4,
14	14	Chapter 3; Section 10-7-504 and Title 39, Chapter
15	15	17, Part 13, relative to the "Tennessee Voluntary
16	16	Do Not Sell Firearms Act."
17	17
18	18	BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE:
19	19	SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 39, Chapter 17, Part 13, is amended by
20	20	adding the following as a new section:
21	21	39-17-1330.
22	22	(a) This section is known and may be cited as the "Tennessee Voluntary Do Not
23	23	Sell Firearms Act."
24	24	(b) A person may file a voluntary waiver of firearm rights form, either in person or
25	25	electronically, with the clerk of the circuit court in the county of the person's residence,
26	26	which has the effect of prohibiting the person executing the form from possessing or
27	27	receiving a firearm while the waiver is in effect. The clerk shall request a physical or
28	28	scanned copy of valid government-issued photo identification to verify the person's
29	29	identity prior to accepting the form. By the end of the business day on which the form
30	30	was received, the clerk shall transmit the accepted form to the Tennessee bureau of
31	31	investigation (TBI). The TBI shall provide the department of safety with a copy of the
32	32	enrollment form within forty-eight (48) hours of receiving a form. If the person has a
33	33	handgun carry permit issued pursuant to § 39-17-1351 or § 39-17-1366, then the
34	34	department of safety shall suspend the person's permit.
35	35	(c) The TBI shall enter the voluntary waiver of firearm rights form into the
36	36	national instant criminal background check system and other federal or state computer-
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38	38
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40	40
41	41	based systems used by law enforcement agencies to identify prohibited purchasers of
42	42	firearms within twenty-four (24) hours of receipt of the form.
43	43	(d) No sooner than seven (7) calendar days after filing a voluntary waiver of
44	44	firearm rights form, the person may file a revocation of the voluntary waiver of firearm
45	45	rights form, either in writing or electronically, with the clerk of any circuit court, which has
46	46	the effect of permitting the person executing the form to possess or receive a firearm
47	47	after the TBI has completed processing the revocation form and twenty-one (21)
48	48	calendar days have passed since the TBI's receipt of the revocation form, unless the
49	49	person is otherwise ineligible to purchase or possess a firearm under federal or state
50	50	law. The clerk shall request a physical or scanned copy of valid government-issued
51	51	photo identification to verify the person's identity prior to accepting the revocation form.
52	52	By the end of the business day on which the revocation form was received, the clerk
53	53	shall transmit the revocation form to the TBI and destroy all records related to the
54	54	person's voluntary waiver of firearm rights form and revocation of voluntary waiver of
55	55	firearm rights form. Twenty-one (21) calendar days after receiving a revocation of
56	56	voluntary waiver of firearm rights form, the TBI shall remove the person from the national
57	57	instant criminal background check system and other federal or state computer-based
58	58	systems used by law enforcement to identify prohibited purchasers of firearms in which
59	59	the person's voluntary waiver of firearm rights form was entered, unless the person is
60	60	otherwise ineligible to purchase or possess a firearm under federal or state law. The TBI
61	61	shall destroy all records related to the person's voluntary waiver of firearm rights and
62	62	revocation of voluntary waiver of firearm rights after removing the person from the
63	63	national instant criminal background check system and other federal or state
64	64	computerbased systems. The TBI shall provide the department of safety with a copy of
65	65	the revocation form within forty-eight (48) hours of receiving the revocation form. If the
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70	70	person is a handgun carry permit holder pursuant to § 39-17-1351 or § 39-17-1366, then
71	71	the department of safety shall reinstate the person's permit to carry, unless the person is
72	72	otherwise ineligible to obtain a permit under state law. The department of safety shall
73	73	destroy all records related to the person's enrollment on the voluntary do not sell list after
74	74	reinstating the person's permit to carry.
75	75	(e) A person who knowingly makes a false statement regarding the person's
76	76	identity on a voluntary waiver of firearm rights form or a revocation of voluntary waiver of
77	77	firearm rights form commits the offense of perjury under § 39-16-702.
78	78	(f) A voluntary waiver of firearm rights form and a revocation of voluntary waiver
79	79	of firearm rights form must not be considered by a court in a legal proceeding in which
80	80	the person executing the form is a party, except a criminal prosecution under subsection
81	81	(e) or § 39-17-1316(q)(4).
82	82	(g) Records obtained and produced under this section are confidential and are
83	83	not an open record pursuant to title 10, chapter 7, except that such information may be
84	84	disclosed to a law enforcement officer acting in the performance of the officer's official
85	85	duties, in the course of a criminal prosecution, or to the applicant with respect to the
86	86	applicant's own information.
87	87	(h)
88	88	(1) The TBI shall develop a voluntary waiver of firearm rights form and a
89	89	revocation of voluntary waiver of firearm rights form.
90	90	(2) The voluntary waiver of firearm rights form must:
91	91	(A) Contain a signature line for the applicant and state that the
92	92	form is signed under penalty of perjury;
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96	96
97	97	(B) Include all information necessary for identification and entry of
98	98	the person into the national instant criminal background check system
99	99	NICS indices to identify prohibited purchasers of firearms; and
100	100	(C) Be made available to the public on the TBI website and the
101	101	administrative office of the courts' website and must be distributed to all
102	102	circuit court clerks and made available on the clerks' websites.
103	103	(i) The TBI may promulgate rules necessary to effectuate this section pursuant
104	104	to the Uniform Administrative Procedures Act, compiled in title 4, chapter 5.
105	105	SECTION 2. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 39-17-1316(d)(1), is amended by
106	106	deleting the subdivision and substituting the following:
107	107	(1) Determine, from criminal records and other information available to it,
108	108	whether the purchaser:
109	109	(A) Is disqualified under subdivision (a)(1) from completing the purchase;
110	110	or
111	111	(B) Has executed a voluntary waiver of firearm rights form pursuant to
112	112	the Tennessee Voluntary Do Not Sell Firearms Act, compiled in § 39-17-1330;
113	113	and
114	114	SECTION 3. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 39-17-1316(q), is amended by
115	115	adding the following as a new subdivision (q)(5) and redesignating the current subdivision (q)(5)
116	116	appropriately:
117	117	(5) It is an offense to sell or transfer a firearm to a person knowing that the
118	118	person has executed a voluntary waiver of firearm rights form pursuant to § 39-17-1330,
119	119	and the waiver has not been revoked.
120	120	SECTION 4. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 39-17-1316, is amended by adding
121	121	the following new subsection:
122	122
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126	126	(s) If a person has executed a voluntary waiver of firearm rights form pursuant to
127	127	§ 39-17-1330 and the waiver has not been revoked, then the person shall not knowingly
128	128	receive or possess a firearm. A person who violates this subsection (s) is subject to a
129	129	civil fine not exceeding one hundred dollars ($100). The person may elect to complete
130	130	four (4) hours of community service in lieu of paying the civil penalty.
131	131	SECTION 5. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 10-7-504, is amended by adding the
132	132	following new subsection:
133	133	(gg) Records obtained and produced under the Tennessee Voluntary Do Not
134	134	Sell Firearms Act, compiled in § 39-17-1330, are confidential and are not an open record
135	135	pursuant to this chapter, except that such information may be disclosed to a law
136	136	enforcement officer acting in the performance of the officer's official duties, in a criminal
137	137	prosecution, or to the applicant with respect to the applicant's own information.
138	138	SECTION 6. For purposes of developing forms and promulgating rules, this act takes
139	139	effect upon becoming a law, the public welfare requiring it. For all other purposes, this act takes
140	140	effect January 1, 2026, the public welfare requiring it.