Judge rules gun control questions can go on Memphis ballot
by: Associated Press, Melissa Moon
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee judge ruled Wednesday that three gun control questions can go on the November ballot in Memphis, even as top Republican state leaders have threatened to withhold tens of millions of dollars in state funding should city leaders put the initiative before voters.
Shelby County Chancellor Melanie Taylor Jefferson sided with the Memphis City Council, which sued the Shelby County Election Commission last month for refusing to put gun control measures on the ballot.
Council Woman Jerri Green said the judge essentially ordered the government body, in this case, the election commission, to put the gun referendum on the ballot,
“I’m very glad for the outcome, and I think it’s exactly what we expected,” said Green. ” I’m a lawyer. I know what the law says. We are hopeful that the state will see that we are allowed to do this and that they should let people have their vote.”
In August, the election commission announced they could not place the questions on the ballot because the Secretary of State’s office had warned they violated several of Tennessee’s laws, making them void and ineligible. In response, the Memphis City Council filed a complaint requesting a judge overrule the commission’s decision.
After a hearing on Wednesday, Taylor Jefferson said the measures could go on the ballot because they had not yet amended the city’s charter and are just proposals.
“It asks the people, the citizens of Memphis if they would like the city council to pass ordinances around gun sense, as I call it, measures. It doesn’t actually change the law. It would involve enabling legislation on the city council side and then on the state side,” Green said. “‘So, it’s not ripe yet for the state to be saying we’re interfering with their laws.”
Earlier this year, the Memphis City Council approved a proposal to ask if voters wanted to tweak the city charter to require permits to carry a handgun, ban the possession of AR-15 style rifles, and implement a so-called red flag ordinance, which allows law enforcement officials to remove firearms from those found to be an imminent danger to themselves or others.
The council acknowledged at times that they were potentially risking the ire of the Republican-dominant Legislature since the measures likely conflict with Tennessee’s lax gun laws. This includes the state’s permitless carry for handguns and a ban on local cities and counties from implementing their red flag laws.
Regardless, council members representing the large Black-majority, left-leaning city said they were willing to take the risk.
House Speaker Cameron Sexton and Senate Speaker Randy McNally later issued a statement warning Memphis about the consequences of advancing ballot measures against the Statehouse’s wishes.
“The Legislature will not tolerate any attempts to go rogue and perform political sideshows,” they said in a news release. “If they do not want to participate within the state and state laws, then they do not need to participate in the state’s successes. Both Speakers will be acting to withhold state-shared sales tax to any local government who attempts to take this type of action.”
Last year, Memphis received nearly $78 million from the state’s sales tax revenue. The city currently operates on a budget of $858 million.
“They didn’t listen to the elected reps, councilmembers, senators, commissioners of the 901,” JB Smiley, a Memphis city councilman, wrote on social media while referencing the local area code. “Maybe, just maybe, they will listen to thousands and thousands of residents who will tell them that gun reform for our community is a matter of life and death.”
Gov. Bill Lee told WREG this week that he believed the referendum contradicted state law.
“We can’t have cities and municipalities creating their own laws that supersede state laws,” Lee said. “That is not the way it works, and that isn’t the way it should happen going forward.”
Memphis Council Member Green said the Attorney General’s Office did not say Wednesday whether they would appeal the decision.
A spokesperson for the Shelby County Election Commission said it was too soon to tell whether the gun referendum will appear on the ballot, and they would provide updates as the next steps become available.