Can you carry gun in car Tennessee?

Under a new law that quietly took effect last week, many Tennessee gun owners may now legally keep loaded firearms in their vehicles even if they don't have a state-issued handgun-carry permit.

As of July 1, people who are legally able to possess a gun under state and federal law, you can keep a loaded handgun, shotgun or rifle in a car or truck you legally possess.

Previously, only those with state-issued handgun carry permits could legally keep loaded firearms in their vehicles. Those without carry permits could keep unloaded firearms in the vehicle if the ammunition was stored separately.

Proponents hail the measure as an expansion of gun rights and a fairness move for commuters who have no carry permits but are worried about safety, as well as for hunters.

Read more from our news partners at the

Chattanooga Times Free Press

.

Carrying Handguns
Tennessee does not require a permit to carry a firearm, whether openly or concealed. If you want to carry a gun openly or concealed in public in Tennessee, you don't need a permit. As of July 1, 2021, Tennessee is a permit-less carry state. Purchase of Firearms
Subject to some exceptions, it is unlawful to sell or transfer a handgun to any person who is intoxicated or who is prohibited from gun ownership under the law.
While a permit is not required to purchase a firearm, any person wanting to obtain a handgun must present the licensed dealer with current identification and other information, including make, model, caliber and manufacturer’s number of the firearm being transferred, so that the dealer can fill out the forms for a background check.  The dealer shall complete a firearms transaction record and obtain the signature of the purchaser on the record.  The dealer shall also obtain a thumbprint of the purchaser.  The dealer shall request by telephone that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation conduct a criminal history record check on the purchaser.
The dealer shall be notified by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation if the purchaser is disqualified from completing the transfer or provide the dealer with a unique approval number.  The Tennessee Bureau of investigation may charge a fee of up to $10.00 for conducting the background check.
The background check does not apply to:

•   Transactions between licensed manufacturers, importers, dealers, or collectors who certify prior to transfer the legal and licensed status of both parties. 
•   Transactions between licensed manufacturers, importers, dealers, and a law enforcement agency or the agency’s personnel. The burden falls upon the transferor to determine the legality of the transaction in progress.
•  Any person eligible to purchase a firearm who wishes to make an occasional sale of a used or secondhand firearm legally purchased by the seller.

It is unlawful for any person to sell, loan or give a firearm to a minor. It is a defense to providing a firearm to a minor if the person providing the firearm is not a dealer and the firearm was loaned or given for the purposes of hunting, trapping, fishing, camping, sport shooting, or other lawful sporting activity.Possession
There is no state permit requirement for the possession of rifles, shotguns, or handguns.
It is unlawful to possess a handgun for persons:
• Who have been convicted of a felony involving the use or attempted use of force, violence or a deadly weapon.
• Who have been convicted of a felony drug offense.
• Who are under 18.
It is a defense for a juvenile possessing a handgun if the person is attending a hunter/firearms safety course; practicing or target shooting at an authorized, established range where the discharge of a firearm is not prohibited; participating in an organized competition or practicing for an firearms event; is accompanied by the minor’s parent or guardian and instructed in proper handgun use; on real property under control of an adult and has permission from the minor’s legal guardian; at the juvenile's residence and with the permission of the juvenile's parent or legal guardian, possesses a handgun and is justified in using physical force or deadly force; has a valid hunting or trapping license; or is traveling to or from a lawful activity with an unloaded1 handgun.
It is unlawful for a person to possess a handgun while under the influence of alcohol or any controlled substance regardless of whether he or she has a lawful permit to carry the handgun.
Carrying Defined
It is unlawful for any person to carry “with the intent to go armed” a firearm or a club.  The burden is on the state to show an “intent to go armed.”
It is a defense to unlawful carrying if the possession or carrying was:
• Of an unloaded rifle, shotgun or handgun not concealed on or about the person and the ammunition for the weapon was not in the immediate vicinity of the person or weapon;
• By a person authorized by written directive and permit to carry handguns;
• At the person’s place of residence, place of business or premises;
• Incident to lawful hunting, trapping, fishing, camping, sport shooting or other lawful activity;
• By a person possessing a rifle or shotgun while engaged in the lawful protection of livestock from predatory animals;
• By a Tennessee Valley Authority officer who holds a valid commission from the Commissioner of Safety while such officer is in the performance of the officer’s official duties;
• By a state, county or municipal judge or any federal judge or magistrate;
• By an out-of-state, full-time, commissioned law enforcement officer who holds a valid commission card and photo identification from a state with a reciprocal agreement for law enforcement from Tennessee to carry in their state.  Carrying by law enforcement is prohibited without the commission card, the ID, and the reciprocal agreement.
A person will not be charged or convicted if the person possessed, displayed, or employed a handgun in justifiable self-defense or defense of another during the commission of a crime in which that person or other person defended was a victim.
The Department of Safety shall issue a permit to carry a handgun for a period of 4 years to a person who pays a fee of $115.
A person wishing to carry a handgun shall apply to the Department of Safety at any location where the department conducts driver license examinations. The applicant must be a resident of Tennessee and reached 21 years of age. The sheriff may charge a fee not to exceed five dollars ($5.00) for taking the applicant’s fingerprints. The department is required to take fingerprints and a photograph of the applicant. The applicant shall submit proof of successful completion of a handgun safety course. The department shall notify the Sheriff of the applicant’s county of residence in order to conduct a background investigation. The department shall issue a license to a qualified applicant within 90 days of the date the Department receives the application.
An applicant shall provide their full legal name and aliases; addresses for five years; date of birth; Social Security Number; and physical description on the application.  The application shall require the applicant to disclose and confirm, under oath, that the applicant :
• Is not prohibited by state or federal law from purchasing or possessing a firearm;
• Has not been convicted of an offense punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding 1 year (not including anti-trust violations, unfair trade practices, or similar offenses related to business practices);
• Is not subject to an order of protection prohibiting the applicant from carrying or possessing a firearm;
• Is not a fugitive from justice;
• Is not an unlawful user of or addicted to alcohol or any controlled substance;
• Has not been a patient in a rehabilitation program or hospitalized for alcohol or controlled substance abuse or addiction within ten (10) years from the date of application;
• Has not been convicted of the offense of driving under the influence of an intoxicant in this or any state two (2) or more times within ten (10) years from the date of application and that none of such convictions has occurred within five (5) years from the date of application or renewal;
• Has not been adjudicated as a mental defective;
• Has not been committed to or hospitalized in a mental institution;
• Has not had a court appoint a conservator for the applicant by reason of a mental defect;
• Has not been judicially determined to be disabled by reason of mental illness, developmental disability or other mental incapacity;
• Has not, within seven (7) years from the date of application, been found by a court to pose an immediate substantial likelihood of serious harm because of mental illness;
• Is not an illegal alien;
• Has been convicted of domestic violence.
The following shall not be grounds for a license denial: any expunged records; a conviction set aside; a conviction for which civil rights have been restored, unless the conviction was for burglary, any felony offense involving violence or use of a firearm or any felony drug conviction involving a Schedule I, II, III, IV or V controlled substance, or a felony drug conviction involving Schedule VI controlled substance which occurred within ten years of the date of the license application.
The renewal fee is $50. An additional handgun safety course is not required to renew a license.  A permit holder has sixty days of any change of address to notify the department in writing of the permit holder’s new address.
A valid handgun permit or license issued in another state shall be valid in this state according to its terms if  the person carries a handgun only and the person is in possession of the permit at all times while carrying the handgun.
The commissioner of safety shall enter into written reciprocity agreements and publish and make available the list of states honoring and not honoring Tennessee permits. If another state imposes conditions on Tennessee permit holders in a reciprocity agreement, such conditions shall also become a part of the agreement and apply to the other state's permit holders when they carry a handgun in this state.
If a person with a handgun permit from another state decides to become a resident of Tennessee, such person must obtain a Tennessee handgun permit within six months of establishing residency in Tennessee.
A person with a valid handgun permit may not carry into some locations.  Restaurants serving alcohol may be entered only if the premises is not posted and the permittee is not consuming alcohol. A concealed handgun may not be carried: 
1. during judicial proceedings
2. school property
3. a portion of a public park owned or operated by a county, a municipality or instrumentality thereof while that portion of the park is in use by a school. 
4. airports, military institutions, and any other building/area prohibited by federal law.
This list is not all inclusive.  For additional information you should consult other official sources such as the Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security.  Machine Guns & Antique Firearms
Firearm means any weapon designed, made or adapted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosive or any device readily convertible to that use, including handguns, long guns, and all other weapons which meet the definition except “Antique Firearms” as defined by Federal law.

A machine gun is defined as  any firearm that is capable of shooting more than two (2) shots automatically without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger.
It is unlawful for any person to intentionally or knowingly manufacture, transport, possess, sell or repair a machine gun.  Defenses exempt the following:
• Performance of official duty for law enforcement or military;
• Activity reasonably related to lawful dramatic performance or scientific research;
• Display in a public museum or exhibition;
• When licensed by the State of Tennessee as a manufacturer, importer or dealer in weapons;
• Acquisition or possession by a person validly registered under the national firearms registration and transfer records.

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