Does Tennessee's campus-carry exemption that bars employee-handgun-carry in offices providing medical services include dentistry offices?

Plain-English summary

Tennessee allows full-time employees of public colleges and universities, with some restrictions, to carry concealed handguns on the property where they work. The statute lists carve-outs where carry is still prohibited even for those employees. One carve-out is "a hospital, or an office where medical or mental health services are the primary services provided." Senate Majority Leader Mark Norris asked whether a dental office counts as a "medical services" office for that carve-out.

AG Slatery answered yes. The statute does not define "medical services," but the term is defined elsewhere in Tennessee health law (Tenn. Code Ann. § 68-1-904(b)) to include "all legally authorized branches of healing" recognized by Tennessee statute. Dentistry is a legally authorized branch of the healing arts (regulated in Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 63-5-101 through 134), and the Board of Dentistry sits alongside the Board of Medical Examiners as a "health-related board" within the Department of Health.

The opinion also leans on common usage: dentists are commonly understood to be members of the medical profession, and dental services are commonly understood to be medical services. The statutory-construction principle (Shore v. Maple Lane Farms) directs courts to give the words their natural and ordinary meaning. That meaning supports the same answer.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2017. 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 campus-carry framework in Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1309 has been amended in subsequent legislative sessions. Anyone evaluating where employee carry is permitted on a public-higher-ed campus today should pull the current version of the statute and any later AG opinions.

Common questions

Q: Who does this employee carve-out apply to?
A: Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1309(e)(11)(C)(v)(d) addresses employees of public institutions of higher education who otherwise meet the conditions to carry a handgun while working on the institution's property. The statute lists places where those employees still cannot carry, even if otherwise authorized.

Q: Why does the statute single out hospitals and offices providing medical or mental health services?
A: The statute does not say in its text. Sensitive locations like hospitals, psychiatric offices, and similar treatment settings are commonly singled out across firearms statutes. The opinion applies the rule as written without examining the legislative motivation.

Q: What's the source of the broad definition of "medical service" the AG used?
A: Tenn. Code Ann. § 68-1-904(b), in the Department of Health's chapter, defines "medical service" to "include all legally authorized branches of healing as exist by any statute of Tennessee." That language is broad enough to capture dentistry, optometry, chiropractic, and similar healing arts.

Q: Does the opinion address mental health services or other healing professions?
A: Not directly. The question asked only about dentistry. The reasoning, though, would point the same way for any "legally authorized branch of healing" recognized by Tennessee statute and similarly common in public usage.

Q: Does this restrict patients or students, or only employees?
A: It restricts only the employee-carry authority created elsewhere in § 39-17-1309. The general handgun rules (state-law concealed-carry permitting, federal preemption around firearms in schools, etc.) operate independently and are not the subject of this opinion.

Background and statutory framework

Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1309 governs the carrying of weapons on school property. Subsection (e)(11) created an employee-carry permission for full-time employees of public institutions of higher education who notify their campus law-enforcement agency before they carry. The permission is bounded by a list of places where carry is still prohibited, including the place at issue here: "a hospital, or an office where medical or mental health services are the primary services provided."

Because the statute itself does not define "medical services," the AG looked to the Department of Health's general definition in § 68-1-904(b). The cross-reference is appropriate because Tennessee health regulation classifies dentistry as a healing art under §§ 63-5-101 to 134 and treats the Board of Dentistry as a "health-related board" alongside the Board of Medical Examiners under § 68-1-101(8).

The statutory-construction principles cited (Shore, Strode, Lee Medical, Shelby County Health Care Corp.) restate the standard Tennessee rule: words get their natural and ordinary meaning in light of context. Both the statutory cross-reference and ordinary usage support reading "medical services" to include dental services.

Citations

• Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1309(e)(11)(C)(v)(d) (employee carry exception, medical-services prohibition)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 68-1-904(b) (definition of "medical service")
• Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 63-5-101 through 134 (regulation of dentistry)
• Tenn. Code Ann. § 68-1-101(8)(G), (M) (Boards of Medical Examiners and Dentistry)
• Shore v. Maple Lane Farms, LLC, 411 S.W.3d 405 (Tenn. 2013)
• State v. Strode, 232 S.W.3d 1 (Tenn. 2007)
• Lee Med., Inc. v. Beecher, 312 S.W.3d 515 (Tenn. 2010)
• Shelby Cnty. Health Care Corp. v. Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co., 325 S.W.3d 88 (Tenn. 2010)

Source

• Landing page: https://www.tn.gov/attorneygeneral/opinions.html
• Original PDF: https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/attorneygeneral/documents/ops/2017/op17-002.pdf

Original opinion text

STATE OF TENNESSEE
OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
January 9, 2017

Opinion No. 17-02

Scope of "Medical Services" in the Context of Carrying Handguns on Property of Public Institutions of Higher Education

Question
Is the practice of dentistry a "medical service" within the meaning of Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1309(e)(11)(C)(v)(d)?

Opinion
Yes.

ANALYSIS

Tennessee Code Annotated § 39-17-1309(e)(11)(C)(v)(d) provides that "an employee who carries a handgun on property owned, operated, or controlled by a public institution of higher education at which the employee is employed . . . is not permitted to carry a handgun at . . . a hospital, or an office where medical or mental health services are the primary services provided." In short, as applicable to the question posed, employees of public institutions of higher learning may not carry a handgun at a hospital or office on the employer's property where "medical services" are the primary services provided. Thus, if dentistry is a "medical service," employees are prohibited from carrying a handgun on the property of a public institution of higher learning in an office where dental services are the primary services provided.

Whether the practice of dentistry is a "medical service" is a question of statutory construction. In construing a statute, one must "ascertain and give effect to the legislative intent without unduly restricting or expanding a statute's coverage beyond its intended scope." Shore v. Maple Lane Farms, LLC, 411 S.W.3d 405, 420 (Tenn. 2013) (quoting State v. Strode, 232 S.W.3d 1, 9 (Tenn. 2007)). The statute's words must be given their natural and ordinary meaning in light of their statutory context. Id. (citing Lee Med., Inc. v. Beecher, 312 S.W.3d 515, 526 (Tenn. 2010)). If the statutory language is clear and unambiguous, then the statute's plain language must be applied in its normal and accepted use. Id. (citing Shelby Cnty. Health Care Corp. v. Nationwide Mut. Ins. Co., 325 S.W.3d 88, 92 (Tenn. 2010)).

The term "medical services" is not defined in Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-17-1309. It is, however, defined in connection with Tennessee's general statutory regulation of health and healthcare as administered by the Tennessee Department of Health. In that broad and overarching context, "'[m]edical service' includes all legally authorized branches of healing as exist by any statute of Tennessee." Tenn. Code Ann. § 68-1-904(b).

Thus, dentistry is a medical service. It is a legally authorized branch of the "professions of the healing arts" and exists and is regulated by Tennessee statute, i.e., Tenn. Code Ann. § 63-5-101 through 134. Moreover, dentists are commonly viewed as members of the medical profession, and their services are commonly understood to be medical services.

HERBERT H. SLATERY III
Attorney General and Reporter

ANDRÉE SOPHIA BLUMSTEIN
Solicitor General

LINDSAY H. SISCO
Assistant Attorney General

Requested by:
The Honorable Mark Norris
Senate Majority Leader
9A Legislative Plaza
Nashville, Tennessee 37243

[Footnote 1: Like the Board of Medical Examiners, the Board of Dentistry is a health-related board under the aegis of the Department of Health. Tenn. Code Ann. § 68-1-101(8)(G) and (M).]