In Tennessee, can a handgun carry permit holder carry a firearm into a public park athletic field while a school is using the field for sports practice or other activities?

Plain-English summary

Two Tennessee firearms statutes intersect at public-park athletic fields. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1309 prohibits firearm possession on any school campus, grounds, recreation area, athletic field, or other property owned, used, or operated by a school for educational administration. Section 39-17-1311 prohibits firearm possession in public parks but carves out an exception for handgun-carry permit holders.

The question is what happens when a school uses a public park's athletic field or recreation area for, say, a soccer practice or field-day event. The AG reaffirmed Tenn. Att'y Gen. Op. 09-129 (July 24, 2009): the school-property statute (§ 39-17-1309) overrides the carry-permit exception in the public-parks statute (§ 39-17-1311). A permit holder cannot carry into a park athletic field or recreation area while a school is actually using it.

The AG also rejected a vagueness challenge to § 39-17-1309. The statute provides fair notice that firearms cannot be possessed on athletic fields or recreation areas while a school is using them. Following State v. Burkhart, 58 S.W.3d 694 (Tenn. 2001), a person who knowingly proceeds close to an area of proscribed conduct cannot complain of inadequate notice.

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.

Tennessee's firearms regime has continued to evolve since 2014, including permitless-carry legislation. The interplay between § 39-17-1309 and § 39-17-1311 remains structurally important but specific applications may be affected by later amendments.

Common questions

Q: Why does the school-property statute win over the public-parks statute's permit exception?
A: The AG read the two statutes "in harmony," using the canon that specific statutes (school property) control over general ones (public parks). Section 39-17-1309 has no exception for handgun-carry permit holders, while § 39-17-1311 does. When the same physical space falls under both statutes (a public-park field being used as a school field), the firearms-prohibition statute that applies more specifically to the school activity controls.

Q: Does the school have to be actively using the field?
A: Yes. The 2009 opinions and this 2014 opinion focus on times when the athletic field or recreation area is "actually being used" by the school. Tenn. Att'y Gen. Op. 09-160 explained that this includes athletic-team practices and competitions, classroom instruction, field days, and similar activities.

Q: How big is the no-carry zone?
A: Per Op. 09-160, the area could cover the entire park or portions of it, depending on the nature of the school activity and the configuration of the property. There is no fixed perimeter; the test tracks where the school activity is taking place.

Q: Why isn't the statute too vague to enforce?
A: Under the standard vagueness test, a criminal statute must give ordinary people fair notice of what conduct is prohibited. The AG concluded that the statute does so when read in conjunction with § 39-17-1311. The court's reasoning in State v. Burkhart, 58 S.W.3d 694 (Tenn. 2001), is also relevant: a person who deliberately gets close to an area of proscribed conduct takes the risk of crossing the line.

Q: What's the ejusdem generis point?
A: The school-property statute lists "campus, grounds, recreation area, athletic field" and then refers to "any other property owned, used or operated by [a school entity] for the administration of any public or private educational institution." The AG used the ejusdem generis canon (general words after specific ones include things of the same kind) to confirm that the "other property" category covers things like the listed specific items, not just school administrative buildings. Nat'l Bank of Commerce v. Estate of Ripley, 61 S.W. 587 (Tenn. 1901), is the AG's source.

Q: How does the 2013 guns-in-parking-lots law affect this?
A: Footnote 1 notes the enactment of § 39-17-1313 in 2013 (which authorizes a permit holder to transport and store a firearm in a motor vehicle while using a public parking area), but the opinion treats § 39-17-1309 and § 39-17-1311 as not materially amended in a way that changes the analysis. The vehicle-storage authority is separate from the prohibition on carrying a firearm onto the field itself.

Background and statutory framework

Tennessee's firearms-on-property scheme uses distinct prohibitions for different settings: schools (§ 39-17-1309), public parks (§ 39-17-1311), and properly posted public or private property (§ 39-17-1359). Each prohibition has its own exceptions. The school-property prohibition has none for handgun-carry permit holders; the public-parks prohibition has one. When the school-property and public-parks prohibitions overlap, the school-property rule controls.

The AG's earlier opinions in this area (Op. 09-129 and Op. 09-160) established the harmonization rule. Op. 14-88 reaffirms those holdings and adds the vagueness analysis. The 2009 opinions stood up against subsequent statutory amendments (2010 Tenn. Pub. Acts ch. 1006 added a greenway definition; 2013 Tenn. Pub. Acts ch. 16 enacted § 39-17-1313) without material change to the core rule.

Citations and references

Statutes:
- Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1309 (firearms on school property)
- Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1310 (affirmative defenses)
- Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1311 (firearms in public parks; permit holder exception)
- Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1313 (firearms in parking areas)
- 2010 Tenn. Pub. Acts, ch. 1006 (greenway definition)
- 2013 Tenn. Pub. Acts, ch. 16 (enacting § 39-17-1313)

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)
- State v. Burkhart, 58 S.W.3d 694 (Tenn. 2001) (Tennessee Supreme Court; vagueness; proximate conduct)
- Boyce Motor Lines v. United States, 342 U.S. 337 (1952) (U.S. Supreme Court)
- Nat'l Bank of Commerce v. Estate of Ripley, 61 S.W. 587 (Tenn. 1901) (Tennessee Supreme Court; ejusdem generis)

Earlier AG opinions:
- Tenn. Att'y Gen. Op. 09-129 (July 24, 2009)
- Tenn. Att'y Gen. Op. 09-160 (Sept. 28, 2009)

Subject

Opinion No. 14-88, Possession of Firearms on Athletic Fields Used by Schools, 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/op14-088.pdf

Original opinion text

STATE OF TENNESSEE
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
September 18, 2014
Opinion No. 14-88
Possession of Firearms on Athletic Fields Used by Schools

QUESTIONS

1. Is Tenn. Att'y Gen. Op. 09-129 (July 24, 2009) still valid insofar as it opined that Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1309 prohibits a handgun carry permit holder from possessing a firearm on or in an athletic field or recreation area situated in a public park while the athletic field or recreation area is being used by a school?

2. If the answer to Question 1 is yes, is Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1309 void for vagueness?

OPINIONS

1. Yes, Tenn. Att'y Gen. Op. 09-129 remains valid.

2. No, Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1309 is not void for vagueness.

ANALYSIS

1. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1309 prohibits the possession of firearms and other weapons "on any public or private school campus, grounds, recreation area, athletic field or any other property owned, used or operated by any [school entity] for the administration of any public or private educational institution." Id. § 39-17-1309(b)(1), (c)(1). The statute makes no exception for the holder of a handgun carry permit. See id. § 39-17-1309(e) (listing exceptions to prohibition); see also id. § 39-17-1310 (listing affirmative defenses).

Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1311 prohibits the possession of firearms and other weapons in or on any public park. Id. § 39-17-1311(a). This statute, however, does make an exception for the holder of a handgun carry permit. See id. § 39-17-1311(b)(1)(H). When an athletic field or recreation area used by a school entity is situated in a public park, this Office opined in Tenn. Att'y Gen. Op. 09-129 (July 24, 2009), that the exception for handgun carry permit holders in § 39-17-1311 must be read in harmony with § 39-17-1309 and concluded: "the legislature intended to allow handgun carry permit holders to carry their firearms into public parks except onto athletic fields and into other recreation areas at times when they are actually being used by schools." Id. at 3 (emphasis added). See also Tenn. Att'y Gen. Op. 09-160, at 3 (Sept. 28, 2009) ("The area where firearm possession would be prohibited could cover the entire park, or portions of the park, depending upon the nature of the school activity taking place and the configuration of the park property.").

Neither statute has been materially amended since 2009,[1] and Op. 09-129 remains valid. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1309 prohibits the possession of firearms on school athletic fields, school recreation areas, or any other property "owned, used or operated" by a school "for the administration of any public or private educational institution" (emphasis added). The word "other," which modifies the general category of "property used for the administration of an educational institution," signals that this general category is meant to describe, and thus includes, the specific kinds of property that immediately preceded it, i.e., athletic fields and recreation areas. It is not meant to be read in isolation such that it would apply only to school administrative buildings. See 2A N. Singer & J. Singer, Sutherland on Statutory Construction § 47:17 (7th ed. 2007) (quoting Nat'l Bank of Commerce v. Estate of Ripley, 61 S.W. 587, 588 (1901)) (where general words follow specific words in a statute, the rule of ejusdem generis "treat[s] the particular words as indicating the class, and the general words as extending the provisions of the statute to everything embraced in that class, though not specifically named by the particular words"). The statute thus prohibits the possession of firearms on or in any athletic fields or recreation areas used by schools. See Tenn. Att'y Gen. Op. 09-160, at 3 ("A plain reading of Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1309 indicates that guns are prohibited on property used by the school.").

2. 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. § 39-17-1309 is not void for vagueness. As discussed above, the statute gives fair notice that firearms may not be possessed on public athletic fields or recreation areas while such fields or areas are actually being used by a school; it thus allows ordinary people to know how "to avoid that which is forbidden." Young, 531 S.W.2d at 562. As observed in Tenn. Att'y Gen. Op. 09-160, schools can use public athletic fields and recreation areas for athletic-team practices and competitions, classroom instruction, field days, and the like. Id. at 2, 3 n.3. "The presence of these activities would indicate that a park is in fact being 'used' by a school so that Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1309 would prohibit handgun carry permit holders from carrying firearms into the area where such activities are taking place." Id. at 2. "[I]t is not 'unfair to require that one who deliberately goes perilously close to an area of proscribed conduct shall take the risk that he may cross the line.'" State v. Burkhart, 58 S.W.3d 694, 698 (Tenn. 2001) (quoting Boyce Motor Lines v. United States, 342 U.S. 337, 340 (1952)). "A person who is aware of a possible application of the statute and nevertheless proceeds cannot complain of inadequate notice when arrested." Burkhart, 58 S.W.3d at 698.

ROBERT E. COOPER, JR.
Attorney General and Reporter

JOSEPH F. WHALEN
Acting Solicitor General

Requested by:
The Honorable Debra Moody
State Representative
108 War Memorial Building
Nashville, Tennessee 37243

[1] In 2010, § 39-17-1311 was amended to include a definition for the term "greenway." See 2010 Tenn. Pub. Acts, ch. 1006. In 2013, the legislature enacted Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1313, see 2013 Tenn. Pub. Acts, ch. 16, § 1, which authorizes the holder of a handgun carry permit to transport and store firearms in a motor vehicle while utilizing a public parking area.