SUNS OUT, GUNS OUT. Criminals thinking about committing home burglary or property theft in Tennessee should think carefully about the whether the stuff they want to take is really worth their life! Legislation passed by Rep. Kip Capley (R-Summertown) and Sen. Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald) will allow people to use deadly force to protect their property if they believe they have no other option and there was a serious threat to human safety. The bill is headed to Governor Lee for signature.
“Right now under current law, if someone is breaking into your property, if they’re stealing from you, if they’re destroying what you’ve worked your entire life to build, you’re expected to wait,” Capley said in arguing for passage on the final day of the Session. “You’re expected to hesitate. You’re expected to second-guess and take a calculated risk at defending what’s yours.”
Democrats opposed the bill. “The reason we were taught you don’t kill people over property is because they are not putting at risk an innocent human life,” Rep. Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) said. “What this legislation seems to be doing is lowering that threshold significantly and substantially, and the department is going to have to reteach in future classes for those who get their lifetime permit that you can now kill people over property, and I don’t think that is right.” It is not clear how Pearson perceives a person committing theft, while trespassing and putting another in fear of danger and harm to them and their family and property is “innocent.”
LAWMAKERS JOINTLY PASS ON MEDICAL MARIJUANA, AGAIN. Despite a new White House/Department of Justice directive lowering the “danger” classification of marijuana (it still remains illegal under federal law) Tennessee still remains on of the few states that has not embraced cannabis for medical use. In fact, the federal reclassification ONLY applies to the 40 states that have allowed a form of medical usage, so Tennessee is not included.
Despite some discussion and support for potential legislative action to allow physician prescriptions for medical use of cannabis, the legislature adjourned with medical marijuana still shelved again.
TEACHER PAYDAY! One of the items contained in this year’s budget is a provision increasing starting teacher pay to $50,000 a year. Will this attract more qualified and committed teachers to our classrooms? More importantly, will the pay raises after they start keep them in the classrooms?
SAD NEWS TO END THE SESSION. Rep.G.A. Hardaway, Sr., long time Memphis representative passed away on the final day of the session after a brief illness. He served in the legislature for 19 years.
Speaker Cameron Sexton noted, “Representative Hardaway was a highly respected leader and a dedicated community servant. He was a man of deep faith, always showed grace, and never turned away from an opportunity to be someone’s mentor or offer advice. He left a lasting impression on all who knew him. We will truly miss him. My prayers are with his family and the entire Memphis community during this difficult time.”
Steve Gill editor and Publisher of TriStar Daily.
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