Is Tennessee's 'guns in parking lots' law for handgun-carry permit holders so vague that it can't be enforced?

Plain-English summary

In 2013, the General Assembly enacted Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1313 (Public Chapter 16), Tennessee's so-called "guns in parking lots" law. Notwithstanding any local ordinance or other law, the statute permits a handgun carry permit holder to transport and store a firearm or ammunition in his or her motor vehicle while on any public or private parking area, subject to conditions: the vehicle must be parked where it is allowed, and the firearm or ammunition must be "kept from ordinary observation." If the permit holder is not in the vehicle, the firearm or ammunition must be locked in the trunk, glove box, or interior of the vehicle, or in a container securely affixed to the vehicle. Subsection (d) provides that incidental observation by another person or security device during the ordinary course of securing the firearm does not violate the statute.

The AG was asked whether the statute is so vague that it cannot be enforced. The AG concluded no. Read alongside the other firearms statutes (§§ 39-17-1307, -1309, -1311, -1359), the parking-lot statute defines its exception to firearms offenses with sufficient definiteness that ordinary people can understand what conduct is permitted and what is not.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2014. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

The opinion expressly notes 2014 amendments to § 39-17-1313 (Public Chapters 498, 505, 768) and to § 39-17-1307 (Public Chapter 870). Tennessee's firearms statutes have been amended since 2014, so verify the current text of § 39-17-1313 and the related provisions before relying on the specific rules described here.

Common questions

Q: What does § 39-17-1313 actually let a permit holder do?
A: It overrides local ordinances and other laws that would prohibit or regulate firearms possession, transportation, or storage by a permit holder in a parking area, allowing the permit holder to keep a firearm or ammunition in his or her motor vehicle. The "notwithstanding" clause was the operative feature for parking-lot policies adopted by city or county governments and (within constitutional limits) by private property owners.

Q: What conditions apply?
A: The vehicle must be parked in a location where it is permitted to be. The firearm or ammunition must be kept from ordinary observation when the permit holder is in the vehicle. If the permit holder is not in the vehicle, the firearm or ammunition must be locked in the trunk, glove box, or interior of the vehicle, or in a securely-affixed container.

Q: What if someone happens to see the gun while it's being moved?
A: Subsection (d) says the statute is not violated if the firearm or ammunition is observed by another person or security device "during the ordinary course" of the permit holder's securing it from observation in or on the vehicle. The carve-out covers transient visibility while complying with the storage rule.

Q: Why is the statute not vague?
A: The vagueness standard from Grayned v. City of Rockford, 408 U.S. 104 (1972), requires criminal statutes to define prohibited conduct clearly enough that ordinary people can understand what is forbidden. The AG concluded the statute satisfies that standard because, when read against the underlying firearms-possession prohibitions in §§ 39-17-1309 (schools), -1311 (public parks), -1359 (posted property), and -1307 (general carrying), § 39-17-1313 carves out a clear exception with concrete conditions (location, concealment, locked storage).

Q: Does the statute override private property owners' policies?
A: The opinion is limited to vagueness analysis and does not address private property rights or contractual workplace policies. Other AG opinions and subsequent legislation have addressed the interplay between § 39-17-1313 and private property owner rights.

Q: Did the 2014 amendments change much?
A: Three Public Chapters amended § 39-17-1313 in 2014 (498, 505, 768), and Public Chapter 870 added the motor-vehicle exception in § 39-17-1307(e). The opinion notes these amendments in footnotes 1 and 2 but does not analyze them in detail.

Background and statutory framework

Section 39-17-1313 sits in the middle of Tennessee's firearms-possession scheme. The default rule in § 39-17-1307(a) prohibits the general carrying of a firearm. The default is then qualified by several location-specific prohibitions: schools (§ 39-17-1309), public parks (§ 39-17-1311), and properly posted public or private property (§ 39-17-1359). The 2013 enactment of § 39-17-1313 added a "notwithstanding" carve-out for permit holders' vehicles in parking areas, designed to preempt local ordinances or property restrictions that would deny permit holders the ability to keep a firearm secured in a personal vehicle.

The vagueness inquiry asks whether the statute (and the larger scheme it sits in) gives fair notice. The opinion's central move is to read § 39-17-1313 as an integrated exception to the broader firearms prohibitions. Taken in isolation, terms like "kept from ordinary observation" might prompt vagueness concerns; read in the context of the surrounding firearms scheme and its concrete prohibitions, the exception's operating conditions become clear enough for ordinary people to follow.

Citations and references

Statutes:
- Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1313 (firearms in parking areas for permit holders)
- Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1307 (general carrying prohibition; motor-vehicle exception)
- Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1309 (school property)
- Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1311 (public parks)
- Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1359 (posted public or private property)
- Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-1-103 (motor vehicle definition)
- 2013 Tenn. Pub. Acts, ch. 16 (enacting § 39-17-1313)
- 2014 Tenn. Pub. Acts, chs. 498, 505, 768 (amendments to § 39-17-1313)
- 2014 Tenn. Pub. Acts, ch. 870 (motor-vehicle exception to § 39-17-1307)

Cases:
- City of Knoxville v. Entm't Res., LLC, 166 S.W.3d 650 (Tenn. 2005) (Tennessee Supreme Court; vagueness)
- Grayned v. City of Rockford, 408 U.S. 104 (1972) (U.S. Supreme Court; vagueness)
- State v. Pickett, 211 S.W.3d 696 (Tenn. 2007) (Tennessee Supreme Court; vagueness)
- Young v. State, 531 S.W.2d 560 (Tenn. 1975) (Tennessee Supreme Court; fair notice)

Earlier AG opinion:
- Tenn. Att'y Gen. Op. 13-41 (May 28, 2013)

Subject

Opinion No. 14-87, Constitutionality of Firearms-in-Parking-Lots Statute on Vagueness Grounds, September 18, 2014

Source

• Landing page: https://www.tn.gov/attorneygeneral/opinions.html
• Original PDF: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/attorneygeneral/documents/ops/2014/op14-087.pdf

Original opinion text

STATE OF TENNESSEE
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
September 18, 2014
Opinion No. 14-87
Constitutionality of Firearms-in-Parking-Lots Statute on Vagueness Grounds

QUESTIONS

Is Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1313 unconstitutionally vague so as to render it unenforceable?

OPINIONS

No.

ANALYSIS

As this Office observed in Tenn. Att'y Gen. Op. 13-41 (May 28, 2013), 2013 Tenn. Pub. Acts, ch. 16, worked a change to the criminal enforcement scheme for the State's regulation of firearms possession. That legislation enacted Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1313, which makes special provision for the transportation and storage of firearms and ammunition in a handgun carry permit holder's motor vehicle while it is on any public or private parking area.

Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1313 currently provides:[1]

Notwithstanding any provision of law or any ordinance or resolution adopted by the governing body of a city, county or metropolitan government that prohibits or regulates the possession, transportation or storage of a firearm or firearm ammunition by a handgun carry permit holder, the holder of a valid handgun carry permit recognized in Tennessee may, unless expressly prohibited by federal law, transport and store a firearm or firearm ammunition in the permit holder's motor vehicle, as defined in § 55-1-103, while on or utilizing any public or private parking area . . . .

In order for this exception to apply, the permit holder's vehicle must be "parked in a location where it is permitted to be," and the firearm or ammunition being transported or stored must be "kept from ordinary observation" if the permit holder is in the vehicle. If the permit holder is not in the vehicle, the firearm or ammunition must be "kept from ordinary observation and locked within the trunk, glove box, or interior of the person's motor vehicle or a container securely affixed to such motor vehicle." Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1313(a)(1), (2) (emphasis added). The terms "motor vehicle" and "parking area" are defined by the statute in subsection (c), and subsection (d) provides that the statute is not violated if the firearm or ammunition "is observed by another person or security device during the ordinary course" of the permit holder's securing it from observation "in or on a motor vehicle."

Due process requires notice of what the law prohibits. City of Knoxville v. Entm't Res., LLC, 166 S.W.3d 650, 655 (Tenn. 2005). "It is a basic principle of due process that an enactment is void for vagueness if its prohibitions are not clearly defined." Grayned v. City of Rockford, 408 U.S. 104, 108 (1972). See State v. Pickett, 211 S.W.3d 696, 704-05 (Tenn. 2007). A criminal statute must give fair notice that certain activities are unlawful, id. at 702; it must "define the criminal offense with sufficient definiteness that ordinary people can understand what conduct is prohibited," Entm't Res., 166 S.W.3d at 655. See Young v. State, 531 S.W.2d 560, 562 (Tenn. 1975) ("All the Due Process Clause requires is that the law give sufficient warning that [people] may conform their conduct so as to avoid that which is forbidden.").

Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1313, read in conjunction with other firearms laws but particularly Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 39-17-1309, -1311, and -1359,[2] gives fair notice that certain activities are unlawful, because it defines the exception to firearms offenses with sufficient definiteness that ordinary people can understand what conduct is not prohibited and thus know how "to avoid that which is forbidden." Young, 531 S.W.2d at 562.

ROBERT E. COOPER, JR.
Attorney General and Reporter

JOSEPH F. WHALEN
Acting Solicitor General

JOHN H. BLEDSOE
Senior Counsel

Requested by:
The Honorable Courtney Rogers
State Representative
110A War Memorial Building
Nashville, Tennessee 37243

[1] Three amendments were made to the statute in 2014. See 2014 Tenn. Pub. Acts, chs. 498, 505, 768.

[2] Sections -1309, -1311, and -1359 prohibit the carrying or possession of firearms and other weapons on school property, public parks, and properly posted public or private property, respectively. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1307(a) prohibits the general carrying of a firearm. But 2014 Tenn. Pub. Acts, ch. 870, amended subsection (e) of Section -1307 to provide that it is an exception to the application of subsection (a) that a person is carrying or possessing a firearm or ammunition in a motor vehicle if the person (1) is not prohibited from possessing, receiving, or purchasing a firearm under federal or state law, and (2) is in lawful possession of the motor vehicle.